'i        THE  TRUE  STORY  . 

^  OF  THE  BOLSHEVIKI 
AND  THE  FORCES  THAT 
DIRECTED  THEM... 

PRINCESS  CATHERINE  RADZIWILL 


LIBRARY 


umVMStTY  OB 
CMJFOHtnA 


V. 


SAN  DI£QO 


"i-J 


THE  FIREBRAND 
OF  BOLSHEVISM 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/firebrandofbolsliOOradziala 


Photograph  hy  Donald  Thompson.      Ctpjrieht  bj  Underwood  and  Underwood,  N.   1 . 

Lenine  (at  left)  and  Trotzky  marshalling  their  forces 
for  revolt 


THE  FIREBRAND 
OF  BOLSHEVISM 

The  True  Story  of  the  Bolsheviki 
and  the  Forces  that  Directed  Them 


BY 

PRINCESS  CATHERINE  RADZIWILL 

Author  of  "Sovereigns  and  Statesmen  of  Europe," 
"Rasputin  and  the  Russian  Revolution,"  etc.,  etc 


BOSTON 

SMALL,  MAYNARD  &  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1919 
By  small,  MAYNARD  &  COMPANY 

(INCORPORATED) 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    The  Secret  Service  Prepares  for  War  i 

II     The  Offices  of  the  Secret  Service  in 

Berlin i8 

III  You  Must  Go  to  Russia    ....  28 

IV  Mr.  Barker  and  Herr  Steinwachs    .  38 

V    We  Must  Arrange  a  Greeting  for 

President  Poincare 49 

VI    Alexander   Feodorovitch   Kerensky.  59 

VII    The  Great  Strike  in  St.  Petersburg  .  77 

VIII     Germany  Really  Means  War     .     .  88 

IX    Colonel  Massojedoff's  Last  Visit  to 

Berlin 99 

X    The  Campaign  in  Eastern  Prussia    .  109 

XI    The  Kaiser  Goes  TO  Vienna    .     .     .118 

XII     Captain  Rustenberg  Goes  to  Petro- 

grad  Once  More 128 

XIII  Germany's   Friends  in   Petrograd  — 

Mme.  Soumentay 138 

XIV  M.  Kalyschkoff  Goes  to  Stockholm  148 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XV    The     German     Secret     Service     in 

Stockholm 159 

XVI     Captain  Rustenberg  Is  Sent  to  Switz- 
erland      170 

XVII    Lenine  and  His  Friends     .      .     .     .179 

XVIII     Captain  Rustenberg  Is  Sent  to  Amer- 
ica       191 

XIX    The  Russian  Revolution   ....  201 

XX    The  Return  OF  Lenine       .      .      .      .211 

XXI     Madame  Soumentay  Comes  to  Stock- 
holm        221 

XXII    The     Bolshevik     Headquarters     in 

Stockholm 230 

XXIII  How    German    Money    was    Trans- 

ferred TO  Petrograd 239 

XXIV  Trotzky  Is  Told  to  Keep  His  Prom- 

ises      248 

XXV    The     Kaiser's     New     Friend,     M. 

Adolphe  Joffe 259 

XXVI    At  Brest-Litovsk 269 

XXVII    The  Great  Betrayal 279 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Lenine  and  Trotzky  .  .  Frontispiece 


Alexander  Feodorovitch  Kerensky  . 

Leon  Trotzky  ..... 

Trotzky  and  the  Bolshevik  Leaders 

Trotzky  leaving  Bolshevik  Headquarters 

General  Komiloff    ..... 

Antonoff         ...... 

Lenine  addressing  a  pacifist  demonstration 

A  handbill  by  which  the  Bolsheviki  spread 
their  propaganda  in  Germany    . 


PAGE 
32 

66 
140 
184 
208 
227 
254 

217 


THE  FIREBRAND 
OF  BOLSHEVISM 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF 
BOLSHEVISM 

CHAPTER  I 

THE   SECRET   SERVICE    PREPARES    FOR   WAR 

The  facts  presented  in  the  following  pages  may 
perhaps  not  be  accepted  without  surprise  and  won- 
der as  to  their  authenticity.  The  world  at  large 
has  not  yet  quite  appreciated  the  full  extent  of  the 
secret  intrigues  which  were  carried  on  in  the  for- 
mer German  Empire  before  and  during  the  war 
that  was  to  break  its  might  and  destroy  it.  And 
yet  the  whole  fabric  of  German  politics  was  built 
on  these  intrigues.  From  the  time  that  Bismarck 
Instituted  his  famous  Bureau  of  Espionage,  these 
machinations  were  steadily  going  on  throughout 
the  whole  of  Europe  and  in  America  as  well,  and 
it  seems  desirable  that  the  activity  of  this  bureau  in 
its  nefarious  work  in  Russia  be  exposed  in  some- 
what the  same  manner  as  has  been  done  for  the 
United  States  in  that  remarkable  recent  book 
"  The  German  Secret  Service  in  America." 

I 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

I  cannot  pretend  to  write  anything  so  interesting 
as  the  volume  in  question,  but  nevertheless  the 
story  I  am  about  to  relate  is  also  curious,  the  more 
so  because  at  the  present  time  Bolshevism,  which 
only  came  to  life  thanks  to  the  aid  and  cooperation 
of  the  German  government,  has  invaded  Germany 
in  its  turn  and  threatens  to  reduce  it  to  the  same 
condition  to  which  it  reduced  Russia  —  a  state  of 
general  chaos. 

Bismarck  has  been  credited  with  establishing  the 
Prussian  Bureau  of  Espionage,  for  so  it  was  called 
in  Berlin  where  the  French  words  were  always 
used  in  connection  with  it.  But  In  reality  Bis- 
marck had  nothing  to  do  with  the  idea  of  the  or- 
ganization of  this  special  department  of  the  vast 
machine  over  which  he  presided,  though  later  on 
it  became  his  pet  institution.  The  man  who  first 
conceived  the  idea  was  a  personage  who  for  some- 
thing like  thirty  years  was  the  most  powerful  being 
in  the  German  Empire,  though  few  people  had  met 
him  and  fewer  still  knew  the  extent  of  the  might  he 
wielded.  This  personage  was  Baron  von  Hol- 
stein,  known  to  a  small  circle  who  surrounded  Bis- 
marck as  the  "  Grey  Eminence."  This  circle  con- 
sidered the  Baron  so  dangerous  that  even  states- 
men like  Prince  Hohenlohe,  whose  position  ought 
to  have  put  him  beyond  the  fear  of  any  attack, 

2 


THE  SECRET  SERVICE 

dreaded  him  and  did  their  best  to  propitiate  him 
and  win  his  favor. 

Baron  von  Holstein  was  a  remarkable  man. 
For  one  thing  he  was  that  rare  being  in  this  world, 
an  absolutely  disinterested  individual,  who  cared 
only  for  power,  and  this  for  power's  sake  alone, 
without  the  slightest  desire  for  personal  advan- 
tages or  personal  grandeur.  He  only  wanted  to 
be  the  authority  behind  the  throne;  to  rule  the 
world  without  the  world  even  being  aware  of  his 
existence.  He  had  entered  the  Prussian  diplo- 
matic service  immediately  after  the  Prusso-Aus- 
trian  campaign  of  1866,  and  some  people,  who 
later  on  figured  among  his  bitterest  enemies,  liked 
to  relate  a  story  concerning  him,  which  I  repeat 
without  vouching  for  its  authenticity,  though, 
viewed  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  it  seems 
more  than  probable.  According  to  this  story  Hol- 
stein, then  quite  a  young  man,  had  visited  Madrid 
as  a  ,tourist  early  in  the  year  1870  and  became 
acquainted  with  a  lady  who  was  supposed  to  exer- 
cise a  considerable  influence  over  the  mind  of 
Marshal  Prim,  then  the  leading  personage  in 
Spain.  The  question  of  finding  a  successor  to  the 
recently  deposed  Queen  Isabella  was  agitating 
public  opinion  in  the  Spanish  Peninsula,  and  Hol- 
stcin's   friend  spoke  to   him  about  the  possible 

3 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

likelihood  of  Prince  Leopold  of  HohenzoUern 
being  persuaded  to  accept  the  Spanish  crown. 
The  idea  had  been  raised  first  during  the  autumn 
of  1868,  but  had  fallen  through  due  to  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  King  of  Prussia  who  wanted  no  mem- 
ber of  his  family  to  run  the  risk  of  becoming  a 
dethroned  monarch.  This  was  really  what  the 
proposed  honor  amounted  to,  as  no  one  with  the 
slightest  political  experience  could  be  so  lacking 
in  wisdom  as  to  imagine  that  a  foreign  prince 
would  have  the  least  chance  of  remaining  on 
the  Spanish  throne  for  more  than  a  few  months. 
William  I  had,  therefore,  discouraged  his  cousin 
from  acquiescing  in  the  proposed  plan. 

It  seems,  however,  that  there  were  people  in 
Spain  who  still  nursed  the  idea  that  it  would  be 
for  the  country's  interest  if  Prince  Leopold 
could  be  induced  to  accept  the  throne,  and  the 
lady  In  question  said  as  much  to  Baron  von  Hol- 
steln.  He  of  course  took  refuge  behind  his  total 
ignorance  of  the  Ideas  of  Count  von  Bismarck 
on  the  subject,  but  he  suggested  that  a  certain 
Bernhardi,  a  secret  agent  of  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment, might  canvass  the  candidature  in  Berlin. 
The  lady  understood,  and  it  is  very  probable  that 
Marshal  Prim  understood  too.  A  few  days  later 
Baron   von    Holstein    returned    to    the    Foreign 

4 


THE  SECRET  SERVICE 

Office,  but  said  nothing  to  anyone  in  the  Wilhelm- 
strasse,  not  even  to  his  immediate  chief,  of  his 
conversation  at  Madrid;  indeed  when  Bismarck 
questioned  him  concerning  it  one  day  in  Versailles, 
he  merely  replied  that  he  had  not  considered  him- 
self important  enough  to  think  that  anything  he 
might  have  heard  or  said  could  interest  the  Min- 
ister, but  that  he  had  tried  in  Spain  as  well  as 
everywhere  else  to  serve  him  and  the  intentions 
he  supposed  him  to  have. 

The  story  goes  on  to  say  that  Bismarck  merely 
remarked  that  he  did  not  often  find  people  who 
were  willing  to  do  so.  After  this  the  career  of 
Baron  von  Holstein  prospered  in  an  amazing 
manner,  though  he  was  never  given  a  post  abroad, 
except  that  of  Councillor  of  the  Embassy  in  Paris 
under  Count  Arnim  and  Prince  von  Hohenlohe, 
where  he  played  an  important  part  in  the  war 
scare  of  1875.  Afterwards  he  returned  to  Ber- 
lin and  never  left  the  Foreign  Office  where  he  was 
almost  as  powerful  as  Bismarck  himself. 

During  the  winter  of  1870-71  the  German 
Headquarters  were  at  Versailles,  and  Bismarck 
discovered  that  the  General  Staff  ignored  him 
wherever  and  whenever  It  could.  This  angered 
him,  but  he  did  not  know  how  to  counteract  its 
influence  over  the  mind  of  the  King  whose  sym- 

5 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

pathics  had  always  leaned  towards  his  military 
advisers.  Then  Holstein,  who  was  attached  to 
the  Chancellor  as  private  secretary,  once  more 
stepped  on  the  scene  and  proceeded  to  explain  to 
Bismarck  a  plan  on  which  he  had  been  working 
since  the  beginning  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war. 
This  plan  was  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  or- 
ganization of  the  formidable  bureau  d' espionage 
which  became  such  a  powerful  weapon  in  Bis- 
marck's hands,  and  to  the  ability  of  which  he 
owed  more  of  his  extraordinary  success  than  he 
would  ever  have  cared  to  own. 

In  some  ways  von  Holstein  was  a  genius,  and 
most  certainly  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men 
who  has  ever  lived.  He  had  one  great  ambition; 
that  of  knowing  everything  about  everybody  and 
of  ruling  everybody  through  fear  of  the  disclos- 
ures he  could  make  were  he  at  any  time  tempted 
to  do  so.  He  was  absolutely  indifferent  to  high 
position,  titles,  decorations  or  money.  His  tastes 
were  of  the  simplest;  his  wants  but  few.  He 
could  appreciate  a  good  dinner,  but  he  could  be 
equally  content  and  never  feel  unhappy  with  a 
dry  crust.  During  the  years  he  worked  by  the 
side  of  Bismarck  he  proved  a  most  admirable 
helpmate,  and  his  administration  of  the  special 
department  of  the   Foreign   Office   of  which  he 

6 


THE  SECRET  SERVICE 

was  the  head  was  perfect.  But  when  Bismarck 
was  dismissed,  Holstein  did  not  show  the  slight- 
est sympathy,  parted  from  the  Chancellor  as 
coldly  as  he  did  everything  else  in  life,  and  con- 
tinued his  own  special  work  with  the  equanimity 
which  had  never  deserted  him  at  any  time  in 
his  existence.  He  was  a  born  spy,  and  liked 
nothing  better  than  to  be  able  to  spy  on  others. 

Bismarck  held  von  Holstein  in  high  esteem, 
and  when  the  latter  went  to  him  with  his  plan 
for  establishing  a  vast  organization  of  almost 
universal  spying,  the  Chancellor  of  the  new  G,er- 
man  Empire  immediately  grasped  the  advantages 
he  could  obtain  from  it.  But  even  he  did  not 
then  realize  how  powerful  such  an  organization 
would  become.  Holstein  recruited  his  agents  in 
every  country  and  from  every  class  of  society  — 
men  and  women,  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low. 
No  matter  what  the  social  condition  or  the  mate- 
rial resources  of  the  people  whom  he  took  in  hand, 
he  compelled  them  to  execute  his  orders  which 
for  the  most  part  consisted  in  bringing  to  him 
certain  knowledge  he  required.  His  first  care, 
whenever  an  individual  capable  at  a  given  moment 
of  playing  a  part,  no  matter  how  humble,  in  the 
great  drama  attracted  his  attention,  was  to  ferret 
out  all  that  could  be  learned  about  him  or  her. 

7 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

With  few  exceptions  he  contrived  to  lay  his  finger 
on  a  hidden  secret.  Once  this  preliminary  step 
had  been  performed  to  his  satisfaction,  the  rest 
was  easy.  The  unfortunate  victim  was  given  to 
understand  that  he  would  be  shamed  publicly  at 
any  time,  unless  .  .  .  unless  .  .  . 

Thanks  to  this  simple  system  of  intimidation, 
the  German  Secret  Service,  which  proved  so  use- 
ful to  Bismarck  first  and  then  to  his  successors, 
was  instituted  with  much  trouble  but  with  magni- 
ficent results.  Not  only  Berlin  but  the  whole  of 
Europe  was  subjected  to  an  inquisition  which  left 
absolutely  no  loophole  of  escape.  The  German 
Foreign  Office  knew  everything  and  made  use  of 
everything,  but  later  on  Holstein  became  so 
jealous  of  his  work  that  he  never  confided  all 
its  details  to  any  one.  When  he  retired,  the 
edifice,  which  had  been  so  near  perfection  with 
him  at  the  head,  lost  its  importance  and  in  a 
certain  sense  hindered  rather  than  helped  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg  during  his  tenure  of  office. 

In  the  Prussian  Intelligence  Department  as 
Holstein  organized  it  there  was  hardly  a  person 
of  note  or  consequence  in  Europe  about  whom 
everything  was  not  known,  including,  of  course, 
his  weaknesses  and  cupboard  skeletons.  And 
this  knowledge  was  used  when  necessary  without 

8 


THE  SECRET  SERVICE 

any  compunction  or  remorse.  After  Holstein's 
retirement,  however,  there  was  a  different  spirit 
and  the  activities  of  this  wonderful  department 
were  transformed  in  the  sense  that  they  were 
applied  to  the  task  of  bribing  people  rather  than 
of  intimidating  them. 

The  story  of  the  greatest  bribery  for  which 
it  was  responsible  I  am  going  to  relate;  the  story 
not  only  of  the  corruption  of  individuals  but  of  a 
whole  country.  Russia,  which  so  many  have 
called  a  traitor,  never  betrayed  any  one,  but  she 
was  herself  betrayed  by  those  in  whom  she  had 
hoped  to  find  saviors.  All  the  details  of  the 
conspiracy  to  which  she  fell  a  victim  are  not  known 
and  probably  will  never  be  known  in  their  entirety, 
but  what  can  be  established,  thanks  to  the  docu- 
ments published  by  the  Creel  Information  Bu- 
reau with  the  sanction  of  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment, is  the  fact  that  the  so-called  Bolshevik 
movement  which  brought  so  much  evil  to  Russia, 
only  became  possible  through  the  German  govern- 
ment spending  money  to  bring  it  about.  It  is 
also  apparent  that  the  so-called  treaty  of  Brest- 
Lltovsk,  which  has  now  become  one  of  those 
scraps  of  paper  to  which  Chancellor  von  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg  alluded  in  his  famous  conversation 
with  Sir  Edward  Goschen,  would  never  have  been 

9 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

signed  had  not  Germany  contrived,  thanks  to  her 
intrigues  and  her  lavish  use  of  money,  to  put  at 
the  head  of  the  Russian  government  puppets  like 
the  men  called  Lenine  and  Trotzky,  the  latter 
not  even  a  Russian  subject.  The  destruction  of 
the  former  realm  of  the  Romanoffs  was  caused 
not  so  much  by  the  disasters  which  befell  its 
armies  as  by  the  corruption  of  men,  who  were 
thrust  into  positions  for  which  nothing  fitted  them, 
by  banknotes  most  of  which  were  not  even  genuine. 

The  full  extent  of  the  Bolshevik  movement  and 
the  part  which  Germany  played  in  its  develop- 
ment is  not  sufficiently  known  and  appreciated. 
It  ought  to  be  told,  if  only  because  it  may  help 
in  understanding  the  fact  that  it.  is  just  as  neces- 
sary to  fight  Bolshevism  as  it  was  to  fight  Prussian- 
ism  of  which  it  is  the  worthy  child  and  descendant. 

The  present  crisis  in  Russia  is  the  most  momen- 
tous one  which  that  country  has  ever  had  to  under- 
go, and  the  fact  should  be  known  that  it  was 
provoked  entirely  by  German  Interference.  The 
betrayal  of  Russia  into  German  hands  was  but  too 
true;  however,  there  was  one  comfort  in  the  trag- 
edy in  this  fact,  that  the  villain  of  the  piece,  Leon 
Trotzky,  was  not  a  Russian  but  a  German  Jew. 
However,  he  does  not  stand  alone,  for  beside  him 
are  other  sinister  figures,  just  as  mischievous  and 

10 


THE  SECRET  SERVICE 

just  as  dangerous  to  the  future  peace  of  the  world. 
These  figures  were  allowed  to  assume  the  impor- 
tance to  which  they  have  risen  through  the  direct 
work  of  the  Espionage  Bureau  of  Berlin,  which  all 
through  the  drama  worked  at  putting  them  in  evi- 
dence and  giving  them  the  means  to  reach  the  one 
great  aim  it  had  in  view  —  that  of  transforming 
Russia  into  a  German  province. 

I  may  now  explain  how  I  came  to  write  this 
narrative.  Before  the  war  began  I  was  preparing 
a  book  on  the  labor  question  in  Russia.  This  led 
me  to  Instigate  researches  among  anarchist  circles 
in  St.  Petersburg,  and  I  was  aghast  to  find  that 
most  of  these  circles  derived  and  sought  their  in- 
spiration from  Berlin.  I  then  remembered  the 
past  —  what  I  had  seen  and  heard  and  had  the 
opportunity  of  observing  during  the  years  I  spent 
in  Berlin  in  my  youth.  Later  on  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, thanks  to  my  intimate  relations  with  the  men 
who  ruled  Russia  in  the  reign  of  Alexander  III, 
I  had  constantly  been  led  to  notice  the  extent  of 
German  intrigues  in  that  country.  A  few  months 
after  the  beginning  of  the  war,  I  left  Russia  for 
Sweden,  where  I  spent  three  years.  There  I 
once  more  had  the  opportunity  of  coming  in  touch 
with  the  dark  underhand  work  of  the  Prussian 
Espionage   Bureau.     I   made   it  my  business  to 

II 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

study  the  German  methods  in  the  hope  that  the 
study  might  permit  me  to  render  services  to  my 
country  and  to  the  Allies.  Fate  favored  me  to  a 
considerable  extent,  for  I  met  many  Germans  who 
made  no  secret  of  the  fact  that  they  were  political 
agents  of  the  Wilhelmstrasse.  I  also  met  through 
my  numerous  Russian  acquaintances  who,  like  my- 
self, had  transferred  their  residence  to  Sweden  for 
the  period  of  the  war,  other  Russians,  some  of 
whom  unfortunately  had  allowed  themselves  to  be 
led  astray  by  fine  promises  which  were  never  meant 
to  be  kept.  I  therefore  got  to  know  and  learn 
many  things  and,  as  it  turned  out,  I  became  the 
friend  of  a  man  who,  in  order  to  gain  information 
for  the  Allies,  succeeded  in  going  to  Berlin  where 
he  penetrated  into  the  haunts  which  I  am  going 
to  describe  in  speaking  of  the  offices  of  the  In- 
telligence Department  in  Berlin.  This  description 
is  taken  from  his  words.  I  shall  find  myself  now 
and  then  compelled  to  put  words  into  his  mouth 
when  relating  certain  facts  and  this  will  explain 
the  personal  character  which  may  prevail  in  many 
passages  of  this  book.  I  shall  call  this  man  Cap- 
tain Rustenberg.  He  pretended  to  be  with  the 
Prussians  heart  and  soul  while  in  reality  he  was 
seeking  means  to  thwart  them  in  their  designs, 
so  disgusted  had  he  become  with  the  methods 

12 


THE  SECRET  SERVICE 

employed  by  men  whom  he  had  once  believed  to 
be  honest;  whom,  later  on,  he  found  to  be  noth- 
ing less  than  criminals  striving  to  win  a  war, 
they  had  brought  on  deliberately  at  a  time  when 
no  one  thought  it  could  ever  break  out,  by  all 
kinds  of  underhand  means  and  nefarious  intrigues. 
His  conversion,  if  I  may  use  the  word  in  speaking 
of  his  feelings,  was  one  of  those  curious  incidents 
of  which  the  last  few  years  have  seen  so  many, 
but  I  believe  it  was  sincere,  and  certainly  he  con- 
trived to  render  valuable  services  to  the  cause  of 
the  Allies  in  keeping  them  informed  as  to  the 
march  of  events  and  among  them  those  which  re- 
sulted in  the  triumph  of  the  Bolsheviki  in  Russia. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  say  when  the  great 
disillusion  of  Captain  Rustenberg  began.  It 
seems  to  me,  however,  that  the  first  forewarnings 
date  from  the  early  spring  of  19 14  when  he  was 
ordered  to  leave  Zurich,  where  he  had  spent  the 
whole  of  the  past  three  or  four  years,  with  the 
exception  of  short  trips  to  France  and  Italy, 
and  go  to  Berlin.  Captain  Rustenberg  was 
much  surprised  by  these  orders  for  he  could  not 
imagine  the  reason  for  calling  him  to  Headquar- 
ters when  it  was  known  there  that  he  was  engaged 
in  the  delicate  task  of  watching  certain  German 
anarchists  who  had  transferred  their  activities  to 

13 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

Switzerland.  His  astonishment  was  even  greater 
when  he  was  told  that  he  would  not  return  to 
Zurich  but  would  be  transferred  to  some  unknown 
destination.  He  had  no  alternative  but  to  obey, 
so  he  relinquished  the  comfortable  flat  where 
he  spent  two  peaceful  years,  packed  his  things 
and  ten  days  later  arrived  in  Berlin.  He  imme- 
diately reported  himself  to  Headquarters,  that  is 
at  the  Foreign  Office  where  the  special  Intelli- 
gence Department  which  was  supposed  to  control 
the  spying  activity  of  German  secret  service  agents 
all  over  the  world  was  lodged. 

A  surprise  awaited  him,  for  he  was  told  that 
changes  had  taken  place  in  the  organization  of  the 
department  since  he  had  last  visited  it.  For  one 
thing  it  had  been  put  under  the  immediate  author- 
ity of  the  General  Staff  and  its  control  had  passed 
from  civilian  into  military  hands.  This  alone 
would  have  been  an  ominous  symptom  of  the  gen- 
eral political  situation  to  a  man  of  his  experience 
in  the  manner  in  which  the  Prussian  Intelligence 
System  was  managed,  but  there  were  other  indi- 
cations which  tended  to  arouse  his  worst  appre- 
hensions as  to  what  awaited  the  world,  including 
Germany,  in  the  near  future.  Most  of  the  ablest 
German  secret  service  agents  generally  quartered 
abroad  had  been  called  to  Berlin  for  a  conference 

14 


THE  SECRET  SERVICE 

with  their  chiefs  —  an  unprecedented  thing  in 
Captain  Rustenberg's  experience.  Then  again, 
he  was  told  that  new  names  had  been  chosen  for 
each  one  of  these  agents,  and  that  they  had  been 
informed  that  in  the  future  they  must  conform 
themselves  to  secret  orders  which  were  delivered 
to  them  in  sealed  envelopes  to  be  opened  only  upon 
the  receipt  of  telegraphic  orders  to  do  so. 

The  headquarters  of  the  department  had  been 
transferred  from  the  Foreign  Office  to  a  small 
back  street  in  an  innocent  appearing  location,  in- 
capable of  arousing  the  suspicions  of  any  one. 
Another  department  of  this  same  secret  service 
was  located  in  the  Colonial  Office  in  the  Wilhelm- 
strassc  and  altogether  extraordinary  precautions 
seemed  suddenly  to  have  been  taken  to  obliterate 
all  traces  of  its  former  activity.  The  rooms 
which  had  been  sacred  to  it  in  the  Foreign  Office 
were  still  occupied,  but  only  by  a  few  men  who 
seemed  to  have  nothing  to  do  except  to  receive 
foreign  diplomats  when  they  happened  to  call, 
read  novels  or  smoke  cigars.  In  fact  it  seemed 
as  if  they  had  been  selected  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  trying  to  pose  as  if  they  were  working  while 
in  reality  they  were  simply  idling  their  time.  Al- 
together things  were  so  strange  that  Captain 
Rustenberg  began  to  wonder  what  they  could  mean 

15 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

and  what  events  Germany  was  preparing  to  meet. 
That  the  expected  events  were  grave  and  impor- 
tant could  not  be  doubted;  it  remained  to  find  out 
their  nature. 

When  Captain  Rustenberg  appeared  at  the 
Foreign  Office  and  discovered  that  his  superiors 
were  no  longer  to  be  found  in  the  apartments 
where  he  had  been  accustomed  to  seek  them,  he 
was  received  by  a  clerk  who  was  sitting  at  a  desk 
hitherto  sacred  to  the  august  being  who  was  known 
to  his  subordinates  only  as  the  "  Professor  "  and 
who  was  the  great  chief  who  held  in  his  hands 
all  the  complicated  threads  of  the  vast  machine 
called  the  German  Intelligence  Service.  The 
clerk  told  the  captain  to  repair  that  same  evening 
between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  to  the  new  loca- 
tion of  the  offices  and  gave  him  a  password  which 
would  enable  him  to  secure  an  entrance  to  the 
back  room  where  he  would  find  his  immediate 
superiors.  More  than  this  the  clerk  could  not 
tell,  and  Captain  Rustenberg  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  he  had  nothing  to  tell  and  was  merely 
used  as  a  messenger  boy  or  telephone  to  transmit 
orders  the  importance  and  sense  of  which  were 
not  revealed  to  him.  So  the  captain  returned 
to  his  hotel  brooding  over  these  unexpected  devel- 
opments of  the  situation,  and,  as  he  related  to  me 

i6 


THE  SECRET  SERVICE 

later,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  felt  impatient 
for  evening  to  come  so  that  he  could  get  an  ex- 
planation of  the  many  things  which  were  puzzling 
him.  So  at  the  appointed  time  he  eagerly  directed 
his  steps  towards  the  little  back  street  where  he 
hoped  to  find  the  solution  of  the  mysteries  which 
were  beginning  to  worry  him  to  an  uncommon 
degree.  He  already  felt  the  fear  that  they  por- 
tended the  breaking  out  of  a  great  European 
crisis  which  would  involve  the  world. 


17 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   OFFICES   OF   THE    SECRET   SERVICE   IN 
BERLIN 

The  new  offices  of  the  Prussian  Intelligence 
Department  were  not  easily  found,  and  as  Captain 
Rustenberg  wandered  about  the  streets  in  search 
of  them,  he  tried  to  understand  the  reasons  for 
their  removal  from  their  former  comfortable 
quarters  in  the  Wilhelmstrasse  to  the  lonely 
suburb,  for  it  was  nothing  else.  At  last  and  not 
without  some  trouble  he  discovered  the  location 
which  had  been  described  to  him  and  made  his 
way  into  the  building.  He  was  stopped  at  the 
door  by  a  man  wearing  the  blue  overalls  which 
printers  use  who  asked  him  what  he  wanted,  re- 
marking at  the  same  time  that  his  principals  could 
not  accept  new  work  as  their  hands  were  already 
full.  The  captain  replied  that  he  was  not  a  cus- 
tomer, but  that  he  had  called  to  see  the  "  Pro- 
fessor "  on  a  business  matter.  The  man  looked 
at  him  with  a  suspicious  air  and  called  out  to 
another  man  who  had  obviously  been  listening  in 
the  background  and  who  now  came  forward  with 

i8 


SECRET  SERVICE  IN  BERLIN 

the  remark  that  "  there  was  no  Professor  "  there 
and  that  evidently  there  was  a  mistake.  But  Cap- 
tain Rustenberg  would  not  be  baffled  and  so  he 
mentioned  the  password  which  had  been  given 
him  at  the  Wilhelmstrasse,  upon  which  the  man's 
countenance  brightened  visibly,  and  he  smiled, 
with  the  remark  that  "  one  must  be  careful  some- 
times." The  visitor  was  then  led  into  another 
apartment  where  he  found  three  men  seated 
around  a  table  covered  with  maps  and  papers. 
Two  of  the  men  were  strangers,  but  the  third 
was  the  "  Professor,"  the  dreaded  chief  whose 
real  identity  had  never  been  revealed  to  his  sub- 
ordinates. 

The  Professor  nodded  to  the  captain  and  mo- 
tioned him  to  a  chair  opposite  and  continued 
attentively  reading  a  long  letter  spread  out  on 
the  table  before  him.  His  blue  eyes  which  were 
generally  hidden  behind  spectacles  were  for  once 
deprived  of  this  ornament  and  glistened  with  a 
fire  the  captain  had  never  before  observed  in 
them.  Now  and  then  he  stroked  his  long  beard 
with  a  gesture  which,  mechanical  as  it  seemed  to 
be,  told  to  those  who  knew  him  well  that  he  was 
laboring  under  an  intense  and  strong  emotion. 
At  last  he  folded  the  papers  he  had  been  perusing, 
and,  turning  to  his  visitor,  simply  said: 

19 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

"  Captain,  let  me  present  you  to  Colonel  X. 
and  Major  B.  Henceforth  you  will  have  to  re- 
port to  them." 

Captain  Rustenberg  bowed  but  said  nothing. 
Indeed  there  was  nothing  to  say,  so  he  merely 
looked  carefully  at  the  two  men  under  whose 
authority  he  had  been  told  he  had  been  placed. 
Their  names  were  not  unknown  to  him  and  he  was 
aware  that  they  were  considered  the  most  brilliant 
officers  on  the  General  Staff.  But  he  could  not 
understand  how  it  could  have  happened  that  they 
had  suddenly  been  enrolled  in  the  service  of  the 
Secret  Intelligence  Department  and  how  they 
found  themselves  in  this  den  —  it  could  hardly 
be  called  anything  else  —  dressed  in  civilian 
clothes  with  no  insignia  of  their  military  rank. 
Until  this  time  the  captain  had  never  heard  that 
officers  in  active  service  could  be  called  to  other 
functions,  but  he  was  to  be  even  more  surprised 
before  the  interview  came  to  an  end.  The  colonel 
was  the  first  to  speak,  and  he  did  so  with  an 
authority  which  the  circumstances  did  not  seem  to 
warrant  and  which  added  to  the  captain's  aston- 
ishment. 

"  You  have  arrived  from  Switzerland  to-day," 
the  colonel  began.  "  Will  you  kindly  tell  us  what 
at  the  present  moment  is  the  disposition  of  the 

20 


SECRET  SERVICE  IN  BERLIN 

Russian  refugees  and  anarchists  toward  their  gov- 
ernment?" 

"  I  haven't  worked  especially  among  the  Rus- 
sian anarchists,"  Captain  Rustenberg  answered, 
"  but  so  far  as  I  know  it  seems  to  me  that  at 
the  present  moment  they  are  planning  another 
great  strike  on  the  scale  of  the  one  which  failed 
in  1905.  But  it  is  difficult  to  tell  whether  they 
mean  to  try  it  in  the  near  future  or  not.  There 
is  one  thing,  however,  which  I  have  had  the 
opportunity  to  observe,  and  that  is  that  their  in- 
tercourse with  the  leaders  of  the  labor  movement 
in  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow  has  become  much 
more  active  during  the  last  six  months  than  it 
has  been  at  any  time  since  the  murder  of  Prime 
Minister  Stolypin." 

The  colonel  made  note  of  this  remark  in  a  book 
which  he  pulled  from  his  pocket  and  then  asked 
what  the  captain  thought  about  the  Hkelihood  of 
this  strike  being  carried  out  with  success. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  answer  that  question," 
was  the  reply,  "  at  least  for  me,  as  I  have  already 
told  you  that  I  haven't  followed  the  movements 
of  the  Russian  anarchists  lately.  One  thing  has 
struck  me,  however,  and  that  is  that  they  seem 
to-day  to  have  larger  funds  at  their  disposal  than 
has  been  the  case  up  till  now." 

21 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

The  colonel  smiled  and  nodded  to  the  "  Pro- 
fessor "  who  bowed  his  head  in  reply  and  then 
questioned  in  his  turn : 

"  Have  you  any  idea  where  these  funds  come 
from?" 

"  Not  the  slightest,  unless  they  come  from  you, 
which  would  not  surprise  me." 

It  was  the  colonel's  turn  to  raise  his  eyes. 

"  He  is  not  stupid,  your  man,"  he  remarked 
drily  to  the  Chief. 

"  Have  you  any  idea,"  continued  the  colonel, 
"  of  the  individual  who  calls  himself  loulianoff 
and  who  is  known  in  anarchist  circles  by  the  name 
of  Lenine?  " 

"  Yes,  I  know  him  well,"  answered  the  captain. 
"What  of  him?" 

"  You  know  him  well?"  interrupted  the  other 
officer  who  up  to  that  moment  had  been  silent. 
*'  Can  you  tell  us  what  sort  of  a  person  he  is?  " 

"  A  man  who  can  be  bought  as  easily  as  he  is 
difficult  to  lay  hands  on,"  was  the  unexpected 
answer. 

"Is  he  a  convinced  anarchist?"  asked  the 
colonel. 

"Do  convinced  anarchists  exist  in  general?" 
answered  the  captain.  "  He  certainly  is  a  par- 
tisan of  the  doctrine  embodied  in  the  French  words 

22 


SECRET  SERVICE  IN  BERLIN 

Otes  toi  de  la,  que  je  m'y  mettes!  Beyond  that 
I  will  take  no  responsibility  in  describing  him. 
Among  his  comrades  he  is  considered  a  fanatic, 
though  I  doubt  whether  his  fanaticism  would  ever 
lead  him  into  risking  his  skin  in  any  enterprise 
dangerous  enough  to  jeopardize  it." 

*'  Do  you  think  he  would  be  amenable  to  rea- 
son? "  asked  the  "  Professor."  "  I  have  reports 
here  which  say  that  he  is  not  one  of  those  individ- 
uals whom  money  cannot  convince." 

"  Probably  your  reports  are  exact,  '  Professor,' 
but  I  can  only  repeat,  I  have  had  no  business 
dealings  with  the  man  personally,  and  all  that  I 
know  about  him  in  this  respect  is  from  the  reports 
which  our  agents  have  made  to  me  from  time  to 
time.  I  could,  however,  easily  ascertain  the 
truth  of  the  matter  if  I  returned  to  Zurich." 

"  That  is  not  necessary,"  said  the  colonel. 
"  We  only  wanted  to  hear  your  personal  opinion 
on  the  subject.  You  are  wanted  in  quite  an- 
other place  than  Switzerland  for  the  moment." 
He  remained  silent  for  a  few  minutes  and  then 
went  on: 

"  You  have  already  been  in  Russia,  and  I  have 
been  told  that  you  speak  Russian  well.  Is  that 
the  case?" 

*'  Yes,"  was  the  reply. 
23 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

"  Then,  '  Professor,'  will  you  kindly  explain  to 
Captain  Rustenberg  what  we  require  him  to  do?  " 

The  "  Professor  "  took  a  paper  from  his  inner 
pocket,  glanced  at  it  and  silently  put  it  into  the 
captain's  hands. 

"  You  see  the  list  of  names,  Captain,"  he  said. 
*'  Your  mission  will  be  to  try  and  ascertain  the 
opinion  of  these  people  in  regard  to  the  oppor- 
tunity for  a  Revolutionary  movement  in  Russia 
during  the  coming  summer.  As  you  will  note 
some  of  them  are  in  Paris  at  the  moment.  To 
Paris,  therefore,  you  will  have  to  go,  but  you 
must  not  stay  there  more  than  a  few  days  during 
which  it  will  be  easy  for  you  to  come  in  contact 
with  these  men.  To  give  you  an  outline  of  what 
we  require,  I  shall  tell  you  that  our  agents  report 
to  us  that  in  France  just  now  there  is  a  strong 
party  which  is  opposed  to  the  visit  of  President 
Poincare  to  St.  Petersburg.  This  party  fears  that 
this  visit  would  mean  the  discussion  of  a  war 
against  Germany  to  which  it  objects  but  which 
is  strongly  desired  by  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  and 
by  the  military  party  in  Russia  as  well  as  in 
France.  Now  such  a  war  would,  of  course, 
paralyze  for  a  time  the  activities  of  the  socialists 
and  especially  of  the  anarchists.  They  think, 
therefore,  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  hurry 

24 


SECRET  SERVICE  IN  BERLIN 

on  in  Russia  an  insurrectional  movement  embodied 
in  strikes  and  labor  troubles  which  would  give  the 
government  so  much  to  do  that  it  would  have  no 
time  to  think  of  a  foreign  war.  We  want  to  know 
whether  this  information  is  correct  and  whether 
it  is  to  be  relied  upon.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
the  colonel  asked  you  whether  you  speak  Russian. 
Your  mission  will  take  you  among  Russians  and 
you  must  be  able  to  discuss  with  them  in  their 
native  tongue.  I  may  as  well  tell  you  that  you 
will  travel  under  a  Polish  name  and  that  you  will 
represent  yourself  as  a  Pole  sent  by  the  Central 
Committee  in  St.  Petersburg  to  discuss  conditions 
with  its  exiled  comrades.  Lenine,  you  may  as 
well  know  it  now,  will  also  be  in  Paris,  and  you 
must  meet  him  as  an  emissary  of  his  friends  in 
St.  Petersburg." 

"  Will  he  not  discover  that  I  am  not?  "  inquired 
the  captain.  "  These  people  always  have  some 
secret  signs  through  which  they  know  each  other." 

The  "  Professor  "  smiled,  a  gentle  smile  of  re- 
proof. 

"  Surely,  my  dear  Captain,  you  do  not  think 
that  we  would  send  you  on  such  an  errand  with- 
out providing  you  with  the  necessary  means  of 
proving  your  identity. 

"  Lenine  will  meet  you  in  Paris,"  he  went  on, 
25 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

this  time  in  3l  decided  tone ;  "  he  will  also  be  there 
under  an  assumed  name,  and  you  will  discuss 
seriously  with  him  the  conditions  under  which  he 
would  accept  work  in  the  direction  we  want,  that 
is  against  the  conclusion  of  the  new  treaty  of 
alliance,  which,  according  to  the  information  that 
has  reached  us,  the  French  President  is  about  to 
ask  Russia  to  conclude  with  France.  One  of  its 
conditions  is  to  allow  French  officers  to  be  initiated 
into  the  details  of  the  armament  of  the  Russian 
army  and  to  become  acquainted  with  the  strategic 
plans  of  the  Russian  Staff.  Such  a  treaty  must 
never  be  allowed  to  become  an  accomplished  fact. 
I  hope  you  understand  me." 

Captain  Rustenberg  bowed  in  silence. 

"  We  may  as  well  tell  you  that  the  reason  why 
you  find  us  here  and  not  in  our  former  quarters 
is  that  we  have  discovered  that  France  had  them 
watched  with  particular  vigilance,  and  in  the 
present  crisis  no  one  must  be  able  to  see  what  we. 
are  doing,  or  be  able  to  identify  later  on  the  agents 
whom  we  find  we  are  obliged  to  summon  from 
abroad  to  our  aid.  That  is  also  the  reason  why 
Colonel  X.  and  Major  B.  have  consented  to  lend 
me  the  benefit  of  their  experience  and  their  skill. 
And  I  can  only  repeat  what  I  told  you  at  the 
beginning  of  this  interview,  it  is  to  them  you 

26 


SECRET  SERVICE  IN  BERLIN 

will  have  to  report  on  your  return  from  Paris, 
for  it  is  needless  to  say  that  you  must  not  attempt 
to  write  to  us   from  there." 

"  But  in  the  name  of  goodness  what  does  all 
this  mean?  "  exclaimed  the  captain.  "  You  surely 
do  not  think  that  we  are  on  the  verge  of  a 
European  war?  " 

"  Who  speaks  of  war?  "  interrupted  the  major. 
*'  We  have  not  mentioned  the  word  war,  but  others 
think  about  it  and  we  must  be  prepared  for  every 
eventuality.  Do  not  get  excited,  my  dear  Cap- 
tain!" 

"  I  am  not  excited,"  the  captain  answered,  and 
then  turning  to  the  "  Professor  "  : 

"  Tell  me  the  truth.  I  shall  work  for  you  far 
better  if  I  know  for  what  stakes  you  are  playing. 
Has  the  hour  struck  for  which  we  have  been  pre- 
paring ourselves  all  these  years?  " 

"  No,"  replied  the  Chief,  "  but  it  may  strike 
before  we  are  many  months  older." 

"  I  understand.  Give  me  your  instructions;  I 
shall  try  to  carry  them  out  as  well  as  I  can." 


27 


CHAPTER  III 

YOU   MUST   GO   TO   RUSSIA 

There  was  nothing  for  Captain  Rustenberg  to 
do  but  obey  orders,  and  so  after  another  confiden- 
tial conversation  with  the  "  Professor,"  he  started 
for  Paris.  He  had  been  given  letters  for  one 
of  the  German  agents  there  who  was  working  in 
one  of  the  largest  book  stores  in  the  French 
capital.  This  employee  was  accustomed  to  advise 
one  of  the  lights  of  the  Prussian  Secret  Service, 
Herr  Steinwachs,  in  the  numerous  book  purchases 
the  latter  was  fond  of  making  in  Paris  where  he 
went  two  or  three  times  a  year.  This  agent  held 
in  his  hands  all  the  threads  of  the  German  Intelli- 
gence Department  in  France.  He  was  supposed 
to  be  an  Alsatian  and  a  rabid  French  patriot. 
This  attitude  had  allowed  him  to  render  the  Wil- 
helmstrasse  inestimable  services,  and  he  was  held 
in  high  esteem  by  the  "  Professor,"  as  well  as 
by  the  other  chiefs  of  his  department. 

Captain  Rustenberg  went  to  Paris  as  a  Pole, 
28 


YOU  MUST  GO  TO  RUSSIA 

ostensibly  belonging  to  the  anarchist  party,  and 
he  had  been  given  a  letter  for  the  man  called 
loulianoff,  already  known  among  extreme  socialist 
circles  as  Lenine.  The  captain  knew  this  man, 
as  I  have  said,  for  he  had  had  several  opportuni- 
ties of  meeting  him  in  Zurich  as  well  as  in  Geneva. 
But  the  captain  had  never  been  told  that  Lenine 
had  been  in  Germany's  employ  and  pay  for  years 
and  that  as  far  back  as  1905  he  had  received 
subsidies  from  the  German  Foreign  Office,  which 
he  had  always  accepted  as  being  funds  from  so- 
cialist sympathizers  in  Germany,  pretending  to 
be  ignorant  of  their  real  origin.  Lenine  enjoyed 
a  certain  reputation  among  Russian  anarchist 
circles  abroad  where  some  people  considered  him 
a  sincere  fanatic,  while  others  believed  him  to 
be,  before  anything  else,  an  ambitious  man  who 
desired  to  sweep  away  the  existing  order  of  so- 
ciety for  the  sole  purpose  of  benefiting  himself. 
Nobody  suspected  that  he  would  ever  become  an 
important  factor  in  Russian  politics  except  the 
German  Intelligence  Department  which  in  this  in- 
stance as  well  as  in  many  others  gave  proof  of  its 
unusual  acumen  and  foresight. 

Captain  Rustenberg  reached  Paris,  and,  after 
securing  a  room  in  a  small  hotel  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Seine,  went  to  seek  the  different  friends 

29 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

he  had  been  told  to  find.  Leninc  had  not  yet 
arrived  in  Paris,  but  was  expected  hourly,  so  at 
least  the  captain  was  told,  but  several  Russian 
anarchists  were  there,  and  it  was  quite  evident 
that  they  were  preparing  some  important  move- 
ment in  the  labor  circles  in  Russia.  He  failed, 
however,  to  note  that  this  movement  was  directed 
against  the  visit  of  the  French  President  to  the 
Czar  as  he  had  been  assured  by  his  chiefs  was 
the  case.  The  captain  could  not  help  wondering 
whether  his  superiors  were  not  being  duped  by 
the  clever  men  who,  he  felt  sure  of  it  now,  had  all 
along  been  in  their  employ.  He  was  told  that  a 
social  revolution,  which  would  most  certainly 
overthrow  the  Romanoffs,  was  but  a  question  of 
months.  The  slightest  outside  occurrence  might 
precipitate  the  coming  of  this  revolution,  such,  for 
instance,  as  a  foreign  war  which  all  the  Russian 
political  exiles  seemed  certain  was  bound  to  come 
within  a  short  time. 

Lenine,  or  loulianoff,  arrived  in  Paris  three 
days  after  the  captain.  The  latter  at  once  sent  to 
him,  through  the  bookseller's  assistant  of  the  Quai 
Voltaire  who  seemed  far  more  in  the  confidence 
of  his  chiefs  than  the  captain  was  himself,  the 
letter  with  which  he  had  been  provided  for  Lenine. 
The  anarchist  immediately  came  to  the  captain  at 

30 


YOU  MUST  GO  TO  RUSSIA 

his  hotel.  After  half  an  hour's  conversation  Cap- 
tain Rustcnberg  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
man  was  an  enigma  and  that  the  solution  would 
not  be  easy  to  find.  Lenine  evidently  wanted 
and  expected  something,  but  what  that  something 
was  the  captain  failed  to  guess.  He  talked  a 
lot  about  the  prospects  of  the  labor  party  in 
Russia,  but  when  the  impending  visit  of  President 
Poincare  to  St.  Petersburg  was  mentioned  and 
the  danger  it  might  present  to  the  cause  of  social- 
ism in  general,  he  interrupted  his  interlocutor  with 
the  remark  that  such  things  did  not  concern  the 
socialists.  Besides,  the  latter  could  only  win 
through  the  complications  of  a  European  war, 
should  it  ever  take  place,  because  such  a  war 
through  the  discontent  which  it  would  be  sure  to 
raise  could  only  reinforce  the  stubbornness  of 
the  socialist  elements  in  every  country,  and  that 
in  Russia  in  particular  it  would  most  certainly 
accelerate  the  triumph  of  anarchism  which,  as  it 
appeared,  was  the  only  thing  he  cared  about. 
When  he  was  asked  whether  he  was  sufficiently 
supplied  with  funds  for  the  campaign  which  he 
told  the  captain  to  tell  "  our  comrades  "  he  was 
about  to  begin,  he  replied,  to  the  latter's  surprise, 
that  though  this  was  not  the  case  at  the  moment, 
he  fully  expected  the  sinews  of  the  war  he  meant 

31 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

to  start  to  be  put  at  his  disposal  as  soon  as  he 
thought  the  moment  opportune  for  doing  so. 
The  captain  did  not  feel  justified  in  asking  who 
was  to  furnish  him  with  this  money  he  so  con- 
fidently expected,  as  he  had  already  guessed  where 
it  was  to  come  from,  and  he  could  not  help  feeling 
slightly  aggrieved  at  the  want  of  confidence  which 
his  superiors  had  shown  in  not  initiating  him  into 
all  the  details  of  the  intrigues  in  which  he  found 
them  engaged. 

Before  they  parted,  Lenine  gave  Captain  Rus- 
tenberg  a  letter  addressed  to  Herr  Steinwachs, 
not  under  that  name  however,  but  under  a  Russian 
alias.  Lenine  finally  took  his  leave  after  having 
once  more  told  his  host  that  the  only  message  he 
could  ask  him  to  carry  to  his  friends  in  Russia 
was  to  the  effect  that  things  were  going  on  well 
and  that  in  view  of  his  ignorance  of  the  ins  and 
outs  of  their  situation,  he  could  only  leave  them 
free  to  do  what  they  considered  best  for  the  in- 
terests of  the  party.  And  then  he  added  the 
following  remark,  the  full  sense  of  which  the  cap- 
tain only  understood  later: 

"  If  you  go  to  St.  Petersburg,  try  to  meet 
Alexander  Feodorovitch  Kerensky.  He  is  the 
man  of  the  future  and  the  one  on  whom  I  rely  the 
most  for  helping  us  to  establish  the  government 

32 


Ctfri[ht,  hj  Undtruxtd  and  Vndtnvotd,  N.   Y. 

Alexander  Feodorovitch  Kerensky 


YOU  MUST  GO  TO  RUSSIA 

which  we  mean  one  day  to  introduce  into  Russia 
as  well  as  into  the  rest  of  Europe." 

All  this  gave  Captain  Rustenberg  a  good  deal 
to  think  about,  and  his  thoughts  were  certainly 
not  comfortable  as  his  train  carried  him  back  to 
Berlin.  His  trip  had  been  well  performed  and 
he  did  not  think  that  during  his  short  stay  in 
Paris  any  one  had  suspected  that  he  was  an  agent 
of  the  German  government  sent  to  interview  Rus- 
sian anarchists  in  the  French  capital.  He  had 
conducted  himself  with  extreme  discretion  and 
during  his  interviews  with  the  French  anarchists, 
he  had  succeeded  in  convincing  them  that  he  was 
a  Pole,  a  member  of  their  party,  who  wanted  to 
instruct  himself  in  their  aims  and  desires  and  the 
attitude  which  they  would  eventually  take  in  the 
improbable  case  of  a  European  war.  On  this 
last  point  the  captain  had  a  great  surprise.  He 
had  always  supposed  that  French  anarchists  were, 
like  their  comrades  in  other  countries,  devoid 
of  all  that  is  called  patriotism.  But  he  discovered 
that  this  was  not  the  case  by  any  means.  With 
all  of  them  it  was  France  first  and  anarchism 
afterwards;  they  were  just  as  eager  to  recover 
Alsace-Lorraine  and  to  start  a  war  of  Revanche 
as  any  other  Frenchmen.  The  captain  knew  this 
would  not  please  his  chiefs  at  all  and  might  even 

3a 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

interfere  with  some  of  their  plans,  but  the  fact 
was  far  too  important  to  keep  hidden  from  them. 

Captain  Rustenberg  was  back  in  Berhn  exactly 
one  week  after  he  had  left  it  and  immediately 
presented  himself  to  Colonel  X.  The  latter  re- 
ceived him  in  the  same  room  in  which  they  had 
met  before  and  listened  in  silence  to  the  report 
which  his  agent  made.  Then  the  colonel  took 
Lenine's  letter  and,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
it  was  addressed  to  Herr  Steinwachs,  opened  it 
and  read  it  with  great  attention.  Afterwards  he 
rang  a  bell  and  told  the  soldier  who  appeared  in 
reply  to  telephone  Major  B.  that  he  was  expected 
at  once.  Captain  Rustenberg  was  then  ordered 
to  sit  down  and  wait,  which  he  did  in  absolute 
silence  wondering  where  all  this  was  to  lead. 

Major  B.  appeared  in  an  incredibly  short  time. 
The  colonel  gave  him  the  letter  and  they  both 
read  it  together  with  extreme  attention.  Then 
the  colonel  spoke  to  the  captain  for  the  first  time 
since  he  had  made  his  appearance: 

"  I  am  quite  pleased  with  you,  Captain.  You 
have  done  well.  Now  you  must  prepare  yourself 
for  the  new  work  which  we  want  you  to  do.  First 
of  all  you  must  go  to-morrow  to  see  Herr  Director 
Steinwachs  who  is  to  furnish  you  with  the  money 
you  will  require  and  also  ask  for  orders  from  the 

34 


YOU  MUST  GO  TO  RUSSIA 

'  Professor  '  in  regard  to  the  journey  you  are  about 
to  take.  On  the  day  which  will  be  fixed,  you 
will  start  for  St.  Petersburg,  traveling  via  Sweden 
where  we  have  agents  with  whom  it  will  be  neces- 
sary for  you  to  come  in  contact.  In  St.  Peters- 
burg you  will  seek  certain  people  whose  names 
will  be  given  you  later  on  and  confer  with  them 
as  to  the  best  way  to  meet  President  Poincare 
when  he  arrives  in  Russia.  You  will  be  given  a 
letter  of  credit  sufficiently  large  to  enable  you  to 
finance  any  movement  among  the  workmen  of 
St.  Petersburg  which  it  may  be  found  advisable 
to  foment.  In  St.  Petersburg  you  will  find  in- 
structions awaiting  you  at  our  Embassy,  and  in 
Stockholm  you  will  also  find  some  at  our  Legation. 
Remember  that  you  are  a  Pole  sent  to  Russia  by 
the  Central  Russian  Anarchist  Committee  of 
Geneva,  and  that  you  are  to  try  and  get  in  touch 
with  the  Polish  agitators  who  abound  in  St. 
Petersburg.  While  you  are  in  Sweden,  where  I 
personally  advise  you  to  stay  a  few  days,  you  will 
look  after  the  agents  whom  we  have  there  and 
with  whom  I  am  not  entirely  satisfied.  Stockholm 
Is  bound  to  become,  within  a  short  time,  an  im- 
portant center  of  news  for  us,  and  it  is  just  as 
well  to  organize  there  a  service  capable  of  meet- 
ing any  emergency,  no  matter  how  sudden  and 

35 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

unexpected.  You  will  travel  to  Stockholm  with 
one  of  our  most  trusted  men,  Mr.  Barker,  a  Ger- 
man-American, whose  activities  have  already  been 
very  useful  to  us.  You  will  take  good  care  to 
distribute  here  and  there  in  Swedish  factories  or- 
ders for  machines  and  other  things  the  execution 
of  which  will  necessitate  frequent  journeys  to 
Sweden  either  of  yourself  or  some  one  else  belong- 
ing to  our  service.  In  St.  Petersburg  you  will  be 
given  a  list  of  different  people  whom  it  will  be  ad- 
visable for  you  to  try  and  meet,  among  others  sev- 
eral newspaper  editors,  such  as  the  owner  of  the 
Gazette  de  la  Bourse,  who,  we  believe,  might  at 
a  given  moment  be  of  great  use  to  us  in  conduct- 
ing a  pro-German  campaign  in  the  press.  You 
will  also  do  the  best  you  can  to  have  talks  with 
several  leaders  of  the  Socialist  Party  in  the  Duma. 
Among  others  there  is  a  young  lawyer  called 
Kerensky  with  whom  I  would  like  you  to  do  your 
best  to  become  acquainted.  He  is  said  to  be  a 
very  talented  fellow  and  one  capable  of  obtaining 
a  considerable  influence  on  the  working  classes  in 
the  Russian  capital.     Why  do  you  start?  " 

Captain  Rustenberg  had  made  a  gesture  of  sur- 
prise at  hearing  the  name  which  Lenine  had  al- 
ready mentioned,  and  this  gesture  had  not  escaped 
the  keen  eyes  of  the  colonel. 

36 


YOU  MUST  GO  TO  RUSSIA 

"  I  started,"  the  captain  replied,  "  because  this 
same  Kerensky  was  recommended  to  me  in  Paris 
by  Lenine." 

It  was  the  colonel's  turn  to  be  astonished,  and 
he  proceeded  to  ask  his  visitor  what  the  famous 
demagogue  whom  he  had  been  sent  to  interview 
had  told  him  about  this  Kerensky.  The  captain 
could  only  repeat  the  words  which  Lenine  had 
used,  that  he  was  "  the  man  of  the  future,"  and 
this  seemed  to  tickle  the  colonel's  fancy  to  an 
unusual  degree.  He  laughed  one  of  those  silent 
laughs  which  mean  so  much  and  then  proceeded 
to  give  the  captain  further  instructions.  He  dis- 
missed him  with  the  remark  that  he  must  be  pre- 
pared to  start  for  Russia  at  an  hour's  notice  if 
need  be,  and  that  in  the  meantime  he  would  do 
well  to  go  immediately  and  see  both  the  *'  Pro- 
fessor "  and  Herr  Director  Steinwachs  from 
whom  he  was  to  get  his  final  orders.  This  the 
captain  hastened  to  do,  for  experience  had  taught 
him  that  in  the  career  he  had  chosen  a  strict  obe- 
dience to  orders  was  what  one  was  expected  and 
required  to  do  before  anything  else. 


37 


CHAPTER  IV 

MR.    BARKER   AND    HERR   STEINWACHS 

Before  proceeding  with  this  narrative,  the 
reader  must  be  made  acquainted  with  two  men 
who  were  to  play  a  most  important  part  in  the 
intrigue  about  to  be  disclosed,  and  who  un- 
doubtedly were  considered  by  the  German  General 
Staff  as  well  as  by  the  Foreign  Office  as  two  of 
their  most  capable  agents.  Herr  Steinwachs  was 
a  fat,  round  little  fellow  with  a  jovial  look  about 
him,  which  was  of  considerable  help  to  him  in 
dissimulating  his  real  functions  and  identity. 
Whether  Steinwachs  was  his  real  name  or  not  Is 
a  fact  which  has  never  been  ascertained.  Cap- 
tain Rustenberg's  private  conviction  was  that  it 
was  an  alias,  for  no  one  in  the  employ  of  the 
German  Intelligence  Department  ever  went  in 
private  life  by  the  name  under  which  he  was 
employed.  On  the  contrary  its  spying  system  had 
for  one  of  its  first  rules  the  giving  of  names  of 
convention  to  its  employees  which  permitted  them 
to  avoid  recognition  and  to  disarm  suspicion  as 

38 


MR.  BARKER  AND  HERR  STEINWACHS 

they  went  along.  Herr  Steinwachs  had  an  office 
in  a  room  on  the  third  floor  of  the  Colonial  Of- 
fice in  the  Wilhelmstrasse  in  Berlin  where  he 
could  generally  be  found  between  two  and  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  he  was  in  town. 
Where  his  home  was  no  one  knew,  and  neither 
his  name  nor  address  could  be  found  in  the  direc- 
tory of  the  German  capital.  He  represented 
himself  as  a  bachelor  living  with  his  widowed 
mother  and  affected  the  attitude  of  a  book  lover 
and  student.  This,  however,  did  not  prevent  his 
taking  special  pleasure  in  gay  society  where  the 
female  element  seemed  to  possess  great  attraction 
for  him.  Two  or  three  times  a  year  he  went  to 
Paris,  for  which  he  was  supposed  to  have  a  par- 
ticular affection,  and  where  he  declared  that  he 
found  opportunities  no  other  place  offered  him 
for  adding  to  his  collection  of  rare  volumes.  He 
spoke  French  remarkably  well,  with  just  a  shade 
of  Teutonic  accent,  but  when  outside  Paris  he 
always  professed  a  total  ignorance  of  the  lan- 
guage, which  sometimes  proved  of  considerable 
use  to  him.  The  German  General  Staff  had  en- 
trusted him  with  important  confidential  missions 
which  he  had  always  performed  to  its  entire  satis- 
faction. He  never  came  to  grief  but  once.  He 
was  on  an  aeroplane  trip  in  France;  his  machine 

39 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

was  damaged  and  he  had  to  come  down  near 
Mantes  where  he  was  taken  by  the  population  for 
what  he  really  was,  a  German  spy.  He  had  some 
trouble  in  establishing  his  identity  as  a  peaceful 
German  traveler  and  went  through  a  bad  quarter 
of  an  hour.  At  that  time,  however,  war  with 
Germany,  or  with  anybody  else  for  that  matter, 
was  far  from  people's  minds,  and  Herr  Stein- 
wachs  escaped  with  a  bad  fright  from  what  might 
have  proved  an  unpleasant  adventure. 

His  last  journey  to  Paris  took  place  just  before 
the  Great  War,  and  it  was  suspected  that  he  was 
sent  to  verify  the  accuracy  of  the  information 
Captain  Rustenberg  had  brought  back  from  his 
trip.  After  hostilities  had  started,  Steinwachs 
was  put  at  the  head  of  the  Russian  division  of  the 
Prussian  Intelligence  Department  where  he  made 
himself  most  useful.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to 
start  the  idea  of  getting  in  touch  with  a  portion 
of  the  Russian  press,  and  he  displayed  consid- 
erable ability  In  the  way  in  which  he  handled  this 
work.  He  had  a  special  skill  in  finding  out  what 
people  could  be  trusted  and  in  the  autumn  of  19 15 
he  scented  danger  in  parties  who  had  been  recom- 
mended to  his  superiors  in  Berlin  as  likely  to 
prove  of  use  In  this  campaign  to  buy  up  the  Rus- 
sian press  or  as  much  of  it  as  could  be  bought. 

40 


MR.  BARKER  AND  HERR  STEINWACHS 

In  reality  these  men  were  agents  of  the  French 
government  who  wanted  to  get  as  much  evidence 
as  they  could  concerning  the  bribing  activities  of 
Germany  in  the  Russian  Empire.  Herr  Stein- 
wachs  went  to  Stockholm  where  these  agents  re- 
sided so  as  to  get  In  direct  touch  with  them,  but 
he  took  the  precaution  to  travel  with  his  mother 
so  as  to  give  his  journey  the  appearance  of  a 
pleasure  trip.  He  first  tried  to  ascertain  what 
these  men  had  to  offer  him.  His  instinct  told 
him  at  once  that  they  were  pretending  friendly 
feelings  towards  Germany  in  order  to  get  him  and 
his  administration  to  compromise  themselves,  and 
he  managed  to  back  out  of  the  snare  which  had 
been  laid  for  him  with  nothing  but  the  loss  of  a 
small  sum  of  money,  which  his  government  could 
stand,  and  with  the  consciousness  that  he  had 
been  clever  enough  to  scent  an  intrigue  which, 
had  it  turned  out  successful,  might  have  got  his 
government  into  difficulties  which  it  would  have 
been  hard  to  explain  to  the  man  on  the  street. 

Herr  Steinwachs  established  a  Bureau  of 
Espionage  in  Stockholm  to  which  all  the  numerous 
agents  placed  under  his  orders  in  the  Scandi- 
navian countries  had  to  report.  Such  a  bureau 
could  not  have  existed  in  Chrlstlanla  or  Copen- 
hagen as  they  were  far  too  small  and  their  inhab- 

41 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

itants  far  too  pro-Ally,  for  it  not  to  have  been  dis- 
covered immediately.  But  the  Germans  had 
many  sympathizers  in  Stockholm,  and  the  activi- 
ties of  the  secret  agents  could  easily  be  hidden 
from  the  eyes  of  the  public.  Herr  Steinwachs 
hired  a  small  flat  in  an  out  of  the  way  street,  which 
became  his  headquarters,  and  started  a  propa- 
ganda all  over  the  Scandinavian  peninsula  through 
the  help  of  several  journalists  and  lecturers,  sent 
especially  from  Berlin  for  the  purpose.  They 
were  instructed  to  explain  to  the  Swedes  and  Danes 
as  well  as  the  Norwegians  the  great  advantages 
of  German  Kultur.  In  addition  to  this  oflicial 
bureau,  because  though  It  was  unknown  it  was 
official  in  some  ways,  he  arranged  for  representa- 
tives of  different  large  business  firms  in  Germany 
to  open  agencies  in  Sweden  where,  In  case  of 
difficulty,  his  spies  could  drop  in  and  send  their 
reports  to  Berlin  at  times  when  there  was  any 
reason  to  suspect  that  the  Allied  counter-police 
had  its  eyes  on  the  movements  of  the  many  Ger- 
man agents.  Later  on  as  the  war  progressed, 
and  when  it  became  necessary  to  watch  events  In 
Russia  with  more  attention  than  at  the  beginning, 
Herr  Steinwachs  sent  over  to  Sweden  an  official 
representative  in  the  person  of  Baron  von  Oppel. 
The  Baron  was  an  important  personage  In  the 

42 


MR.  BARKER  AND  HERR  STEINWACHS 

German  Intelligence  Department,  and  he  installed 
himself  in  a  sea-side  resort  called  Saltsjobaden, 
near  Stockholm,  where  he  took  upon  himself  the 
organization  and  "  surveillance  "  of  the  multitude 
of  German  spies  who  crowded  around  him  and 
who  came  from  Russia  and  Finland  to  make  their 
reports.  The  Baron  was  to  play  an  important 
part  in  the  conspiracy  which  brought  about  the 
ruin  of  Russia  and  Its  betrayal  into  the  hands  of 
Germany  by  Lenlne,  Trotzky  and  Company. 

Mr.  Barker  was  quite  a  different  individual 
from  Herr  Director  Steinwachs.  He  said  that  he 
was  an  American  with  large  business  Interests 
in  Germany  and  he  used  to  travel  about  under  the 
protection  of  an  American  passport,  not  only  In 
Russia,  where  he  was  a  frequent  visitor  during 
the  first  two  years  of  the  war,  but  also  in  Eng- 
land and  France.  He  was  most  prepossessing 
in  appearance,  affected  pleasant  manners,  and  had 
the  appearance  of  a  man  about  town  more  In 
quest  of  amusement  than  anything  else.  Clean 
shaven  and  alv/ays  well  dressed,  he  was  Intelli- 
gent and  tactful,  observant  and  extremely  cynical 
in  that  he  never  trusted  any  one,  and  seldom 
spoke  the  truth  concerning  his  feelings  or  opinions. 
He  crossed  to  the  United  States  several  times 
during   19 1 5   and   19 16,   where  he  was  sent  to 

43 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

control  in  a  certain  sense  the  work  of  Count  von 
Bernstorff  whom  he  carefully  avoided  all  the  time 
he  remained  in  Washington  and  New  York.  The 
Count  had  his  counter-police  and  heard  vaguely 
that  a  trusted  agent  of  the  Intelligence  Depart- 
ment in  Berlin  had  arrived  in  America.  He  tried 
to  get  in  touch  with  this  agent  and  even  went  so 
far  as  to  cause  inquiries  to  be  made  at  the  bank 
where  he  supposed  Mr.  Barker  would  go  to  cash 
the  checks  with  which  he  had  been  provided  before 
he  left  Europe.  But  these  inquiries  came  to 
nothing,  and  the  baffled  Ambassador  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  finding  the  man  he  sought  with  great 
perseverance  and  whose  presence  in  the  United 
States,  he  feared,  might  bode  ill  for  himself, 
and  at  all  events  proved  that  the  confidence  which 
the  Count  inspired  in  his  superiors  was  not  un- 
limited. 

Mr.  Barker  was  a  chemist  by  profession,  and 
was  supposed  to  be  attracted  by  anything  con- 
nected with  explosives.  He  was  the  head  of  a 
textile  establishment  in  the  Rhine  provinces  and 
was  generally  immersed  in  researches  concerning 
dyes  and  things  of  that  sort.  It  was  rumored, 
too,  that  he  had  patented  a  new  bomb  of  unusual 
power  and  that  in  one  of  his  trips  to  America  he 
took  a  few  of  these  toys  with  him  to  show  his 

44 


MR.  BARKER  AND  HERR  STEINWACHS 

friends.  Whether  this  was  true  or  not,  it  is 
difficult  to  say.  Mr.  Barker  was  Captain  Rus- 
tenberg's  superior,  and  the  latter  was  not  at  lib- 
erty to  control  his  activities  or  to  try  and  find 
out  what  aims  he  was  pursuing. 

The  captain  never  liked  Mr.  Barker,  and  it 
was  with  mixed  feelings  of  pleasure  that  he  went 
to  see  him.  To  his  surprise,  however,  for  he 
had  always  suspected  that  Barker  never  approved 
of  his  methods  or  of  the  way  he  used  to  work, 
his  superior  received  him  quite  amiably,  and  at 
once  plunged  into  the  subject  which  had  brought 
them  together,  and  told  the  captain  exactly  what 
he  had  to  do.  The  captain  discovered  that  far 
from  fearing  a  war,  as  he  had  for  a  brief  moment 
thought  was  the  case  during  his  conversation  with 
Colonel  X.,  the  German  government  was  secretly 
hoping  one  would  be  declared  against  it  thus  sav- 
ing it  the  trouble  of  declaring  war  itself.  Mr. 
Barker  seemed  wonderfully  well  informed  as  to 
Russian  affairs  and  said  point  blank  that  if  the 
Russian  labor  party  could  be  persuaded  to  arise 
against  the  government  in  case  of  a  declaration 
of  hostilities,  either  on  Germany's  part  or  on 
that  of  the  Czar,  this  would  allow  the  former  to 
conclude  in  a  relatively  short  time  a  peace  which 
would  deliver  into  German  hands  the  whole  Rus- 

45 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

sian  commercial  market.  After  that  Germany 
would  no  longer  fear  competition  either  from 
England  or  from  the  United  States  against  which 
Barker  seemed  to  be  particularly  Incensed. 

Barker  gave  Captain  Rustenberg  a  list  of 
names  of  people  in  whom  he  assured  him  Germany 
had  well  wishers  and  eventual  friends.  The  list 
comprised  Kerensky,  together  with  other  deputies 
of  the  Duma,  a  woman  called  Madame  Soumen- 
tay,  and  a  man  whose  name  the  captain  had  never 
heard  before,  Adolphe  Jofife.  Mr.  Barker  cau- 
tioned him  to  be  very  careful  In  regard  to  the  last, 
as  he  was  staying  In  St.  Petersburg  under  an 
assumed  name  and  was  eagerly  sought  by  the 
Russian  police.  Finally,  Barker  directed  the  cap- 
tain to  another  man  from  whom  he  was  to  receive 
any  funds  he  might  want  during  his  stay  in  Russia, 
and  advised  him,  while  not  appearing  to  encourage 
the  leaders  of  the  Russian  labor  party  in  a  re- 
bellion against  the  government,  to  try  and  Impress 
them  with  the  conviction  that  the  government  was 
too  rotten  not  to  be  overthrown  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity. 

Herr  Director  Stelnwachs  was  not  quite  so  ex- 
plicit as  Mr.  Barker,  but  he  told  Captain  Rusten- 
berg one  thing  which  the  former  had  carefully  re- 

46 


MR.  BARKER  AND  HERR  STEINWACHS 

frained  from  mentioning  —  that  Germany  was  on 
the  eve  of  a  war  which  might  easily  become  a 
general  one  and  that,  consequently,  the  captain 
must  be  very  careful  in  everything  he  said  and 
did.  To  the  question  of  whether  he  thought  that 
the  impending  visit  of  President  Poincare  to 
Petersburg  was  likely  to  bring  the  war  about, 
Herr  Steinwachs  simply  shrugged  his  fat  and  com- 
fortable shoulders  and  remarked  that  President 
or  no  President  the  course  of  events  could  not 
be  arrested  or  even  checked.  He  finally  dismissed 
his  visitor  with  the  remark  that  the  latter  must 
leave  Berlin  the  next  day,  and  that  he  would  find 
Mr.  Barker  awaiting  him  at  the  station  at  sight 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  They  were  to  travel  to- 
gether as  far  as  Stockholm,  and  then  Captain 
Rustenberg  was  to  make  his  way  alone  to  Russia 
through  Helsingfors  and  Finland.  His  stay  in 
St.  Petersburg  was  to  extend  until  the  departure 
of  the  French  President,  unless  he  received  orders 
to  the  contrary.  The  captain  bowed  and  was 
about  to  take  his  departure  when  suddenly  Herr 
Steinwachs  stopped  him: 

"  By  the  way,  I  had  nearly  forgotten.  If  a 
certain  Colonel  Massojedoff  calls  upon  you,  please 
be  polite  to  him  and  ask  him  to  dinner  at  some 

47 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

good  restaurant  or  other.  But  do  not  take  any 
letter  from  him,  and  simply  advise  him  to  come 
to  Berlin  and  see  his  friends.  He  is  a  good  fel- 
low, and  you  might  as  well  be  nice  to  him." 


48 


CHAPTER  V 

WE  MUST   ARRANGE   A   GREETING   FOR 
PRESIDENT    POINCARE 

As  he  had  been  told,  Captain  Rustenberg  found 
Mr.  Barker  waiting  for  him  at  the  station,  and 
they  crossed  together  to  Sweden  and  made  their 
way  to  Stockholm.  The  Swedish  capital  was  a 
sleepy  little  place  at  that  time,  and  people  seemed 
to  think  only  of  their  own  petty  interests.  The 
hotels  were,  if  not  empty,  at  least  only  moderately 
filled  with  tourists,  and  the  town  had  an  essen- 
tially provincial  appearance.  Mr.  Barker  did 
not  elect  to  stay  at  the  same  hotel  at  which  the 
captain  had  been  ordered  to  stop  and  took  up 
his  abode  at  another  one,  which,  if  not  quite  so 
fashionable  as  the  Grand,  was  probably  more 
acceptable  to  him  for  other  reasons.  Barker  bade 
good-by  to  his  traveling  companion  in  the  train 
and  advised  him  that  in  case  they  should  meet 
on  the  street  they  were  not  to  speak  or  to  appear 
as  though  they  knew  each  other.  To  tell  the 
truth  Captain  Rustenberg  was  not  sorry  to  hear 

49 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

this  as  he  had  no  sympathy  with  Barker,  perhaps 
out  of  jalousie  du  metier,  as  most  people  would 
have  said,  but  more  likely  because  he  could  not 
quite  accept  his  utter  unscrupulousness  in  working 
and  his  complete  disregard  of  the  elements  of 
morality  which  even  spies  must  sometimes  have. 
The  captain  little  suspected  that  the  day  would 
come  when  even  Mr.  Barker  would  appear  to  him 
as  one  of  the  most  honest  of  men  when  compared 
with  others  with  whom  he  was  compelled  to  work 
later  on. 

Captain  Rustenberg  went  to  Helsingfors  In  Fin- 
land where  he  had  been  ordered  to  look  up  cer- 
tain Finnish  agitators  with  whom  the  German 
Intelligence  Department  was  in  communication. 
He  found  them  much  excited  against  Russia  and 
just  as  much  against  Sweden.  None  of  them  was 
In  the  least  sympathetic  with  Germany  and  German 
Kultur,  and  when  the  captain  tried  to  discuss  with 
them  their  eventual  attitude  in  the,  as  he  put  It, 
improbable  case  of  war  breaking  out  between 
Russia  and  Germany  they  told  him  frankly  that 
they  would  support  Russia  so  long  as  they  had 
no  hopes  of  winning  back  their  Independence,  but 
that  the  moment  they  saw  the  least  likelihood  of 
doing  this,  they  would  organize  a  systematic  revolt 
against  their  present  masters.     When  they  were 

50 


A  GREETING 

asked  whether  they  would  seek  help  from  Ger- 
many in  cncir  attempc  to  shaK.e  oil  the  Russian 
yoke,  they  replied  categorically  that  they  would 
never  dream  of  doing  such  a  thing,  because  it 
would  be  jumping  from  the  frying  pan  into  the 
fire. 

On  the  other  hand  the  anarchist  elements  in 
Finland,  of  whom  there  were  more  than  the  cap- 
tain had  been  led  to  think,  were  absolutely  pro- 
German  and  seemed  to  him  at  least  to  be  in 
complete  accord  with  several  German  socialist 
groups.  They  considered  Scheidemann  a  kind  of 
prophet,  and  they  made  no  secret  of  the  fact  that 
at  different  times  they  had  accepted  financial  sub- 
sidies from  their  German  comrades,  especially 
during  the  troubled  years  which  had  followed  the 
Russo-Japanese  war. 

After  several  days  spent  in  their  society,  the 
captain  considered  that  the  Finns  were  an  abso- 
lutely unreliable  people  ready  to  conclude  an 
alliance  with  any  person  who  flattered  them  and 
just  as  ready  to  break  afterwards.  In  case  of  a 
war  they  would  undoubtedly  cause  trouble,  even 
if  they  ostensibly  declared  themselves  on  the  Ger- 
man side. 

From  Helsingfors  it  was  but  a  twenty-four 
hours'  journey  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  the  captain 

51 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

made  the  trip  most  comfortably  in  an  almost 
empty  train  where  he  had  a  large  compartment 
to  himself  in  the  sleeping  carriage.  The  Russian 
capital  had  quite  a  summer  aspect,  though  here 
and  there  bunting  was  to  be  seen  in  honor  of  the 
French  President  who  was  expected  in  two  or 
three  weeks.  It  was  then  the  beginning  of  June, 
and  the  town  was  more  or  less  empty  of  its  fash- 
ionable elements,  though  most  of  the  people  hold- 
ing official  positions  were  still  there.  The  cap- 
tain, of  course,  went  immediately  to  the  German 
Embassy,  and  was  received  by  Count  von  Pour- 
tales  with  great  courtesy  and  with  evident  curi- 
osity. The  Count  gave  him  letters  which  a 
courier  had  brought,  together  with  official  dis- 
patches, and  he  went  to  great  trouble  to  assure 
the  captain  that  he  was  entirely  satisfied  with  the 
political  situation  and  the  relations  between  the 
German  and  Russian  governments.  Pourtales 
was  too  much  a  man  of  the  world  to  ask  his  visitor 
what  had  really  brought  him  to  Russia  and  he 
seemed  to  accept  the  story,  which  in  accordance 
with  his  instructions  the  captain  told  him,  that  his 
only  wish  was  to  see  old  friends  who  had  invited 
him  to  visit  them.  Before  the  captain  took  leave, 
Count  von  Pourtales  invited  him  to  lunch  for  the 
next  day,  which  he  declined,  pleading  a  previous 

52 


A  GREETING 

engagement,  as  Herr  Director  Stelnwachs  had 
enjoined  his  agent  to  show  himself  at  the  Embassy 
as  little  as  possible.  After  this  first  visit  of  cour- 
tesy the  captain  considered  himself  free  to  follow 
his  own  course  and  he  went  to  seek  the  persons 
to  whom  he  had  introductions  presenting  himself 
as  a  Pole  sent  to  Russia  by  the  anarchist  circles 
of  Switzerland  to  report  to  them  the  actual  posi- 
tion of  the  different  labor  groups  in  the  Empire 
of  the  Czar. 

Of  course  the  ostensible  pretext  for  his  appear- 
ance in  Russia  was  the  desire  to  discuss  the  possi- 
bility of  another  general  strike  like  the  one  which 
had  failed  in  1905.  There  had  been  partial 
attempts  at  organizing  one  during  the  winter 
which  had  just  ended  and  there  had  been  troubles, 
of  a  transient  nature  however,  in  different  factories 
in  St.  Petersburg.  Experiments  had  been  made 
with  new  gases  which,  let  loose  in  the  working 
rooms,  had  caused  the  wholesale  poisoning  of  the 
employees.  Although  the  matter  had  occupied 
the  authorities,  it  had  been  hushed  up  by  the  gov- 
ernment which  did  not  care  to  investigate  it  for 
fear  of  adding  fuel  to  the  flames.  That  these 
extraordinary  poisonings  had  been  brought  about 
intentionally  no  one  doubted,  and  it  was  said 
among  the  workmen  that  the  names  of  the  persons 

53 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

who  perpetrated  them  were  well  known.  The 
intent  was  evident :  they  wanted  to  excite  the  work- 
men against  the  factory  owners  or  the  govern- 
ment, in  the  case  of  government  controlled  fac- 
tories like  the  great  Poutiloff  factory  which  em- 
ployed more  than  twenty  thousand  men. 

To  Captain  Rustenberg's  surprise  he  discovered 
that  most  of  the  mechanics,  foremen,  engineers 
and  inspectors  in  the  principal  working  centers 
of  the  capital  were  Germans  either  from  the 
Baltic  provinces  or  from  Prussia  itself.  They 
appeared  to  get  on  well  with  the  men  under  them 
with  whom  they  seemed  to  sympathize  far  more 
than  did  the  Russian  officers  who  had  the  last 
word  in  the  administration  of  the  factories  where 
war  materials  were  manufactured.  The  captain 
asked  the  German  workers  with  whom  he  had 
an  opportunity  to  talk  their  opinion  of  the  work- 
men they  controlled.  They  all  told  him  that  the 
men  had  learned  a  useful  lesson  in  1905  and  that 
there  was  no  fear  of  their  venturing  another  out- 
break until  they  were  certain  of  emerging  trium- 
phant. But  they  did  not  conceal  their  opinion 
that  any  slight  circumstance  might  bring  this  out- 
break and  that  when  it  did  occur  it  would  be  far 
more  bloody  than  the  previous  revolution  had 
been. 

54 


A  GREETING 

Another  general  strike  was  in  everybody's  mind 
and,  so  far  as  the  captain  could  discover,  one 
of  the  reasons  it  was  wished  for  was  the  great 
industrial  prosperity  which  undoubtedly  had  fol- 
lowed the  reverses  of  the  Japanese  war,  a  pros- 
perity which  had  not  touched  the  workmen,  but 
which  had  enriched  the  street  speculators  who 
had  made  ducks  and  drakes  of  the  different  in- 
dustrial enterprises  which  had  sprung  up  like 
mushrooms.  It  was  known  that,  thanks  to  French 
influence  and  the  urgent  representations  of  the 
French  government,  Russia  had  proceeded  or 
rather  was  proceeding  to  a  considerable  addition 
to  its  armaments.  The  fear  of  war  was  in  the 
public  mind,  the  more  so  since  it  had  become 
known,  no  one  knew  how,  that  it  had  been  decided 
not  to  give  any  further  orders  to  German  firms, 
but  to  allow  the  Creusot  and  Poutiloff  factories 
to  fulfill  the  new  artillery  program  which  had 
been  decided  upon  in  high  circles. 

The  workmen  had  heard  all  this  through  some 
mysterious  channels  and  they  were  opposed  to 
this  display  of  ardor  in  the  way  of  armaments. 
The  average  workman  was  fairly  comfortable  at 
the  time;  he  was  earning  good  wages,  and  had 
lately  discovered  that  many  restrictions  to  which 
he  had  formerly  been  obliged  to  submit  were  being 

55 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

slowly  withdrawn,  and  that  he  was  gradually  being 
allowed  the  liberty  of  holding  meetings  and  of 
having  papers  of  his  own  to  defend  the  interests 
of  the  labor  party  in  general.  The  workman 
knew  that  this  party,  his  party,  was  slowly  organ- 
izing and  he  realized  perfectly  that  this  would 
no  longer  be  possible  in  case  of  war  as  the  gov- 
ernment would  undoubtedly  proceed  to  withdraw 
all  the  concessions  it  had  made  during  the  past 
two  or  three  years  to  the  workingmen  in  general 
and  their  representatives  in  the  Duma  in  particu- 
lar. The  idea  of  war  was,  therefore,  an  unpleas- 
ant one  to  most  of  the  men  who  gave  a  thought 
to  it.  It  was  also  far  from  popular  in  the  army 
itself,  still  smarting  as  it  was  under  the  remem- 
brance of  the  disasters  it  had  experienced  in  Man- 
churia, for  it  knew  that  it  had  not  recovered  from 
them  sufficiently  to  enter  another  struggle  with 
any  chance  of  success. 

Captain  Rustenberg  soon  discovered  that  the 
instructions  which  he  had  been  given  to  try  and 
stimulate  the  discontent  of  the  Russian  labor 
party  were  very  clever  and  that  this  would  be  a 
relatively  easy  thing  to  do.  The  men  to  whom 
he  had  brought  letters  of  introduction  welcomed 
him  warmly  and  inquired  eagerly  for  their  *'  com- 
rades "   in  Switzerland  with  whom  it  appeared 

5.6 


A  GREETING 

they  were  in  close  and  constant  communication. 
Lenine,  as  they  all  called  loulianoff,  was  a  kind 
of  prophet  in  their  eyes,  and  they  all  said  that 
the  day  would  come  when  the  program  which 
he  had  drawn  up  would  become  an  accomplished 
fact,  when  the  proletariat  would  at  last  come  for- 
ward and  obtain  the  place  in  the  world  to  which 
it  was  entitled.  At  the  same  time  none  of  these 
men  seemed  to  have  any  idea,  no  matter  how 
hazy,  as  to  what  was  to  follow  the  triumph  of 
this  proletariat  they  represented.  They  had  ab- 
solutely no  comprehension  of  what  the  words 
"  governing  a  country  "  meant,  and  the  thought 
which  seemed  uppermost  in  their  minds  was  that 
of  destroying  what  they  certainly  would  never 
know  how  to  rebuild. 

The  French  alliance  was  not  popular  among  the 
workmen,  and  it  was  with  visible  wrath  that  they 
spoke  of  the  Impending  visit  of  the  French  Presi- 
dent, which  many  among  them  considered  a  direct 
challenge  to  a  war.  Captain  Rustenberg  failed 
to  discover  why  this  Idea  had  gained  their  minds, 
though  he  had  strong  suspicions  that  German 
propaganda  and  the  money  which  the  German 
government  was  constantly  distributing  among 
Russian  socialists  and  anarchists  had  something 
to.  do   with    it.     Other    French   presidents    had 

57 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

visited  Russia  before  M.  Polncare  and  had  been 
warmly  welcomed,  especially  M.  Faure  who  was 
the  object  of  a  most  enthusiastic  reception  by  the 
population  of  St.  Petersburg.  No  one  had  ever 
intimated  that  his  visit  meant  war  with  any  of 
Russia's  neighbors.  There  was  no  reason  why 
M.  Poincare's  visit  should  be  considered  in  an- 
other light  from  those  of  his  predecessors  in 
office.  The  captain  could  not  help  thinking  that 
there  was  something  more  than  was  known  at  the 
bottom  of  the  great  hostility  with  which  the  labor 
party  in  the  capital  affected  to  regard  the  Presi- 
dent. That  this  hostility  existed  he  had  more 
than  one  opportunity  to  notice,  especially  on  one 
occasion  when  he  was  discussing  with  the  editor 
of  one  of  the  labor  organs  of  St.  Petersburg  the 
probable  attitude  of  the  numerous  workingmcn 
employed  in  the  different  great  industrial  concerns 
in  case  the  much  discussed  visit  should  take  place. 
The  editor  ended  with  the  following  remarkable 
words: 

*'  If  the  French  President  really  comes  here, 
then  we  shall  arrange  a  greeting  for  him  such 
as  he  and  others  do  not  expect." 


58 


CHAPTER  VI 

ALEXANDER    FEODOROVITCH   KERENSKY 

Captain  Rustenberg  had  been  in  St.  Petersburg 
for  three  weeks,  and  though  he  had  succeeded  in 
gathering  considerable  interesting  information 
concerning  the  spirit  prevailing  among  the  socialist 
and  anarchist  circles  of  the  capital,  he  had  been 
unable  to  meet  one  of  the  men  with  whom  he  had 
been  especially  recommended  to  get  acquainted  — 
the  young  lawyer  known  to  his  friends  by  the 
name  of  Kerensky.  The  captain  was  told  that 
Kerensky  was  shy  of  strangers,  probably  because 
of  his  ignorance  of  any  other  language  than  Rus- 
sian. He  had  been  advised  that  the  stranger 
understood  and  spoke  Russian  as  well  as  any  Pole 
could  do,  yet  he  had  contrived  to  elude  him  in 
some  way  or  other.  The  captain  was  given  to 
understand  that  Kerensky  was  a  very  suspicious 
Individual  and  that,  connected  as  he  was  with  an 
anti-governmental  movement  and  being  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  extreme  radical  factions  in  the 
Duma  in  addition,  he  was  always  anxious  not  to 

59 


THE' FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

be  drawn  into  utterances  which  might  possibly 
compromise  him.  Kerensky  had  been  recently 
defending  people  accused  of  anarchist  propaganda, 
and  though  he  had  been  unable  to  save  them 
from  sentences  of  several  years'  banishment  in 
Siberia,  he  had  said  enough  to  cause  serious  em- 
barrassment to  their  judges  who  might,  perhaps, 
have  shown  themselves  more  lenient  than  was  the 
case  if  strong  pressure  had  not  been  brought  to 
bear  and  obliged  them  to  be  severe.  But  this 
defence,  which  was  said  to  have  been  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  Kerensky  had  ever  conducted,  had 
once  more  brought  him  prominently  into  the  pub- 
lic eye,  and  it  was  probable,  or  so  at  least  it  was 
said,  that  he  would  have  been  arrested  in  his 
turn  had  it  not  been  for  his  parliamentary 
immunity  as  a  member  of  the  Duma.  All  this 
made  Captain  Rustenberg,  if  possible,  more  anx- 
ious than  before  to  meet  the  young  lawyer,  but 
his  efforts  did  not  seem  likely  to  be  crowned  with 
success  until  at  last  he  found  himself  face  to  face 
with  Kerensky  quite  by  accident. 

At  this  point  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to 
say  a  few  words  concerning  the  man  who  for 
unexplained  and  entirely  unjustified  reasons  was 
for  a  brief  period  a  popular  idol  abroad.  I 
say  abroad  with  intention,  because  there  were  few 

60 


KERENSKY 

people  in  Russia  who  shared  the  enthusiasm  which 
he  excited  among  those  who  did  not  know  him 
well  and  who  saw  in  him  the  leader  of  the  new 
Russia  which  was  expected  to  arise  at  a  moment's 
notice  from  the  ashes  of  the  empire  over  which  the 
Romanoffs  had  ruled  for  so  long  time.  This  new 
Russia,  in  the  opinion  of  the  followers  of  this 
Wremienchik,  to  use  the  old  Russian  expression 
which  signifies  the  man  of  the  hour  who  has  no 
hope  of  being  the  one  of  the  next  day,  was  to  be 
a  regenerated  and  better  one  than  that  which  had 
gone  before,  but  his  adversaries  asserted  that 
under  his  rule  it  would  quickly  become  worse 
and  at  all  events  a  different  Russia  than  the  world 
had  known. 

Unfortunately  Kerensky  lacked  the  principal 
characteristics  of  a  statesman;  he  lacked  experience 
and  knowledge  of  the  routine  of  government,  and 
he  had  but  a  limited  education  with  no  idea  what- 
soever of  the  feelings  of  people  born  and  reared 
in  a  different  atmosphere  from  that  in  which  he 
had  grown  up  himself.  He  was  only  a  leader 
of  men,  or,  rather,  of  the  passions  of  men,  and, 
unfortunately  for  him  and  for  his  country,  what 
Russia  required  was  more  of  a  ruler  than  a  leader 
—  she  had  more  of  the  latter  than  she  needed, 
though  perhaps  none  so  powerful  as  Kerensky. 

6i 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

He  emerged  from  the  complete  and  general  chaos 
as  Dictator  and  he  added  to  this  chaos  all  the 
weight  of  his  unripe  genius  and  his  exuberant 
personality.  He  preached  constantly  a  creed 
which  it  is  doubtful  if  he  believed  himself.  This 
was  the  principal  reason  for  his  fall,  for  nations 
will  never  follow  those  who  have  no  confidence 
in  themselves. 

I  knew  Kerensky  long  before  the  Revolution, 
at  a  time  when  he  was  a  briefless  lawyer  save 
when  it  came  to  defending  political  offenders 
without  means  to  pay  his  fees.  At  that  time  no 
one  dreamed  of  crediting  him  with  a  knowledge 
of  pohtics,  though  everyone  admitted  his  elo- 
quence as  a  demagogue.  He  himself  never 
thought  that  one  day  he  would  be  entrusted  with 
the  responsibility  of  leading  his  country  either  in 
prosperity  or  in  misfortune,  and  he  never  pre- 
pared himself  for  the  task.  He  only  put  his  wits 
to  seeking  the  best  means  of  destroying  the  present 
state  of  things  without  considering  that  the  neces- 
sity would  arise  of  replacing  these  conditions  by 
better  or  more  useful  or  more  practical  ones. 

When  Kerensky  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Duma  he  at  once  assumed  a  leading  part  in  its 
deliberations  through  his  eloquence  in  which  he 
denounced  abuses,  which,  though  great,  became 

62 


KERENSKY 

even  greater  after  he  had  had  the  opportunity 
of  disclosing  them  to  the  public.  But  no  one 
ever  imagined  there  was  the  stuff  for  the  minister 
in  him,  even  on  the  very  day  of  the  Revolution. 
Through  the  fact  that  in  a  certain  sense  he  had 
obliged  the  President  of  the  Duma,  Rodzianko, 
to  take  the  leadership  of  the  movement  which  was 
to  overthrow  the  Czar  and  his  government,  Ker- 
ensky  had  to  be  included  among  the  members  of 
the  new  Cabinet.  Prince  Lvoi?,  one  of  his  friends, 
presided,  but  when  he  was  asked  what  he  thought 
about  Kerensky's  membership,  he  answered  that 
he  was  very  sorry  for  it,  because  Kerensky  could 
only  wreck  a  Ministry,  no  matter  to  which  party 
it  belonged,  once  he  were  associated  with  it. 

Others  thought  so  too,  and  none  were  better 
aware  of  the  fact  than  the  leaders  of  the  extreme 
radical  and  anarchist  groups  who  had  made  up 
their  minds  from  the  first  to  oust  from  power  the 
moderate  democratic  elements  whom  everybody 
reasonable  hoped  would  assume  the  task  of  watch- 
ing over  Russia's  destinies  and  interests.  When 
they  pushed  Kerensky  into  the  position  for  which 
he  was  so  completely  unfitted,  they  did  so,  not 
because  they  wanted  him  there,  but  because  they 
knew  he  would  never  show  himself  strong  enough 
to  repress  their  own  activities. 

63 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

In  his  way  Kcrensky  was  a  weakling,  just  as 
much  as  the  Czar  whose  place  he  took  and  whose 
apartments  he  hastened  to  occupy  as  soon  as  he 
became  a  member  of  the  new  government.  What 
old  aristocrats  like  Prince  Lvoff,  sincere  democrats 
like  Professor  Miliukoff  and  M.  Goutschkoff,  and 
extreme  socialists  like  Skobeleff  and  Tcheidze  had 
refused  to  do,  Kerensky,  the  "  Man  of  the  Hour," 
did  not  hesitate  to  perform. 

His  arrogance,  his  thirst  for  enjoyment  of  the 
most  trivial  kind  which  savored  so  much  of  the 
parvenu  he  really  was,  was  perhaps  the  thing 
which  contributed  most  to  depriving  him  of  the 
sympathies  of  those  who  up  to  that  time  had 
hoped,  for  they  had  never  believed,  that  the  elo- 
quence of  this  beau  parleur  might  be  of  some  use 
to  his  country.  But  when  they  saw  him  play  at 
the  Sovereign  and  forget  the  vital  questions  and 
interests  which  were  agitating  Russia  in  his  wild 
lust  for  material  satisfaction,  they  turned  their 
backs  upon  him  and  gave  him  up  forever. 

I  remember  well,  when  I  arrived  in  Petrograd 
after  the  Revolution,  hearing  people  on  all  sides 
making  the  saddest  predictions  in  regard  to  Ker- 
ensky's  future.  His  greatest  supporters  had 
been  the  workingmen  and  the  laboring  classes  in 
general,  and  they  were  simply  aghast  with  indigna- 

64 


KERENSKY 

tion  when  they  discovered  that  instead  of  working 
for  them  as  he  had  promised,  he  thought  only 
of  himself  and  forgot  that  he  had  ever  belonged 
to  the  proletariat.  When  the  proletariat  dis- 
covered that  he  had  betrayed  its  ideals,  it  hastened 
to  overturn  him  for  fear  he  might  deliver  it  into 
the  hands  of  the  very  people  against  whom  he 
had  advised  and  encouraged  it  to  rise. 

Another  of  Kerensky's  weaknesses  was  his  want 
of  character  and  resolution.  He  always  attempted 
the  impossible  task  of  trying  to  please  every- 
body, and  of  course  he  failed.  He  promised  too 
much  and  performed  far  too  little.  He  had  com- 
promised himself  with  the  anarchist  party  before 
he  became  a  Minister,  and  he  was  afraid  of  its 
claiming  his  fulfillment  of  hasty  promises  made 
at  a  time  when  he  never  expected  to  be  in  a  position 
where  he  would  be  called  upon  to  perform  them. 
When  Lenine  arrived  in  Petrograd,  Kerensky 
hoped  to  conciliate  him  and  bring  him  around  to 
his  own  points  of  view.  These  were  eminently 
pacific,  for  from  the  first  moment  the  Revolution 
became  an  accomplished  fact,  Kerensky  had  had 
but  one  thought  in  his  head  —  the  conclusion  of 
a  separate  peace  with  Germany.  The  man's 
vanity  had  been  hurt  by  a  supposed  slight  on  the 
part  of  the  French  Ambassador,  and  his  nature 

65 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

was  so  small  that  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation 
to  gain  revenge.  He  imagined  that  the  best 
means  to  obtain  his  end  was  to  ally  himself  with 
those  who  had  been  clever  enough  to  persuade  him 
that  they  recognized  in  his  person  the  genius  who 
was  to  save  Russia  and  deliver  her  from  her 
enemies. 

Personally  I  do  not  think  Kerensky  took  Ger- 
man money,  but  it  is  an  assured  fact  that  he  made 
money  and  this  to  a  considerable  amount  during 
the  months  he  remained  in  power.  It  is  equally 
certain  that  he  contrived  to  transfer  it  abroad. 
Indeed  this  preoccupation  about  securing  his  future 
seemed  to  be  his  principal  one  during  his  brief 
passage  as  a  Dictator.  It  influenced  him  in  his 
relations  with  the  Bolshevik  group,  for,  when  he 
was  asked  to  arrest  Lenine  and  Trotzky,  he  re- 
quested his  colleagues  to  wait  and  in  the  meantime 
he  contrived  to  send  another  million  abroad  for 
safe-keeping. 

Kerensky  realized  that  Lenine  was  the  real 
leader  of  the  party  with  which  he  had  compro- 
mised himself  and  was  anxious  not  to  make  him 
his  enemy.  When  Lenine  was  about  to  be  ar- 
rested, Kerensky  advised  him  of  the  fact  and  he 
fled  to  Finland.  He  returned  to  Petrograd  when 
the  first  scare  had  subsided  and  he  remained  in  the 

66 


Ctfjright,  kj  l/ndtrwatj  and  Undirwocd,  N.    Y. 

Leon  Trotzky 


KERENSKY 

capital  unmolested,  though  every  one  knew  where 
he  was,  simply  because  Kerensky  had  forbidden 
any  one  to  trouble  or  interfere  with  him.  Later 
on  the  Bolshevik  chief  repaid  this  service  by  allow- 
ing Kerensky  in  his  turn  to  stay  in  hiding  near  the 
capital  after  his  overthrow.  Here  Kerensky  re- 
mained until  they  both  deemed  the  time  had  come 
for  the  former  Minister,  about  whom  the  press 
abroad  had  been  so  enthusiastic,  to  repair  to 
England  and  France,  and  as  they  hoped  to  the 
United  States,  in  order  to  get  in  touch  with  the 
Bolsheviks  in  the  different  countries. 

Here  is  a  typical  anecdote  concerning  Kerensky, 
for  the  authenticity  of  which  I  can  vouch,  for  the 
incident  happened  while  I  was  in  Petrograd  for  a 
few  days  immediately  after  the  Revolution  and 
the  central  figure  was  a  personal  friend  of  mine. 
In  bygone  days  this  gentleman  had  often  obliged 
Kerensky  with  small  loans  of  money  when  the  lat- 
ter was  in  one  of  the  periodical  financial  crises  to 
which  he  was  subject.  One  day  my  friend  met  the 
Minister  coming  out  of  the  Winter  Palace,  ac- 
costed him,  and  asked  him  for  the  return  of  the 
money  with  which  he  had  formerly  obliged  him 
and  of  which  he  was  then  himself  in  great  need. 
Kerensky  smiled  and  said  he  would  be  only  too 
happy  to  pay  his  debt.     Unfortunately,  he  said, 

6^ 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

he  had  no  money  with  him,  and  he  therefore  re- 
quested his  creditor  to  wait  until  the  next  morning 
when  he  made  an  appointment  to  meet  him.  The 
man  went  home  delighted  at  the  thought  of  com- 
ing once  more  into  his  own,  and  told  his  wife  that 
he  had  found  Kerensky  most  charming  and  affable 
and  that  probably  the  stories  going  the  rounds 
about  his  forgetfulness  of  old  friends  was  nothing 
but  one  of  the  calumnies  to  which  public  men  are 
subject.  But  the  same  night  the  police,  or  rather 
the  militia  which  had  taken  Its  place,  invaded  the 
creditor's  house  and  carried  him  off  to  the  fortress. 
He  was  only  released  months  later  when  Kerensky 
had  disappeared  into  space. 

Anecdotes  of  this  kind  were  numerous,  and 
many  of  them  were  true.  Can  it  be  wondered 
that  their  hero  came  to  a  sad  end?  Should  it  oc- 
casion surprise  that  when  he  fell,  no  one  regretted 
him,  few  pitied  him,  and  many  rejoiced? 

But  to  return  to  Captain  Rustenberg's  unex- 
pected meeting  with  the  future  Minister.  As  I 
have  said,  one  of  Herr  Director  Stelnwachs' 
recommendations  to  the  captain  was  to  be  polite 
to  a  certain  Colonel  Massojedoff,  If  he  should 
chance  to  come  across  him.  One  morning  as  the 
emissary  was  sitting  In  his  room  In  the  hotel,  this 
gentleman's  card  was  brought  up  and  he  himself 

68 


KERENSKY 

appeared  a  few  moments  later.  The  captain 
found  himself  in  the  presence  of  a  relatively  young 
man  —  he  might  have  been  between  thirty-five  and 
forty  years  old  —  with  a  pleasant  open  counte- 
nance, and  the  most  suave  and  charming  manners 
in  the  world.  He  wore  the  dark  blue  uniform  of 
the  Corps  of  the  Gendarmes  —  the  much  dreaded 
uniform  in  Russia,  as  its  wearers  belonged  to  that 
terrible  secret  police  called  the  Third  Section 
which  had  all  the  political  offenders  under  its  sur- 
veillance. Colonel  Massojedoff  spoke  excellent 
French  and  told  his  host,  that  as  he  had  heard 
from  German  friends  that  he  was  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, he  had  considered  it  his  duty  to  call  on  him 
and  ask  him  whether  he  would  not  do  him  the 
pleasure  of  dining  with  him  that  same  evening  at 
Felicien,  a  fashionable  restaurant  on  the  islands  In 
the  outskirts  of  the  capital.  As  the  captain  ex- 
pressed his  surprise  that  the  colonel  had  German 
friends  who  had  taken  the  trouble  to  give  him  this 
information,  he  replied  that  he  was  the  officer  in 
charge  of  the  frontier  station  of  Wirballen  and 
that  he  was  constantly  seeing  the  German  travel- 
ers who  crossed  there  as  he  had  to  examine  their 
passports.  The  captain  and  the  colonel  soon  be- 
came friends  and  while  the  former  wondered  what 
services  the  latter  could  have  rendered  the  Ger- 

69 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

man  Intelligence  Department,  he  could  not  help 
finding  him  a  most  agreeable  person,  who  being 
very  talkative  would  be  sure  to  prove  useful  in 
enlightening  him  on  the  various  points  which  he 
wished  to  have  cleared  up  before  his  return  to 
Berlin. 

They  had  an  excellent  dinner  together  and  soon 
began  to  talk  about  the  Russian  political  situation. 
The  colonel  told  his  guest  that  though  a  strong 
party  clamorous  for  war  undoubtedly  existed  and 
that  it  was  trying  to  persuade  the  Czar  to  adopt  a 
more  aggressive  policy  against  Germany  than  he 
had  pursued,  yet  he  personally  did  not  think  that 
the  Sovereign  could  be  induced  to  do  it.  The 
Czar  was  well  aware  that  Russia  could  not  fight 
anybody  —  Germany  least  of  all. 

"  And  why  should  we  fight  her?  "  the  colonel 
added.  "  All  our  interests  are  almost  identical 
with  German  interests,  and  it  would  be  a  blessing 
for  Russia  if  she  could  conclude  an  alliance  with 
the  Kaiser  and  thus  secure  for  herself  the  position 
of  importance  she  ought  to  have  in  Europe,  which 
she  more  or  less  lost  by  the  war  with  Japan.  Be- 
lieve me,  we  shall  never  do  anything  worth  doing 
until  we  have  assimilated  the  spirit  of  order  and 
organization  which  has  made  Germany  so  power- 
ful and  mighty.     If  I  were  allowed  to  do  what  I 

70 


KERENSKY 

Hkcd,  I  would  try  to  organize  a  vast  movement  in 
favor  of  a  German  alliance  all  over  the  country." 

"  Do  you  think  this  would  be  a  difficult  thing 
to  do?  "  asked  Captain  Rustenberg. 

"  Well,  it  all  depends  upon  what  you  call  diffi- 
cult," answered  the  colonel,  with  a  smile. 
"  There  are  arguments  to  which  the  Russian  never 
remains  insensible.  The  fact  is  that  France  is 
spending  an  enormous  amount  of  money  in  an 
ardent  propaganda  against  you,  while  you  do  not 
display  half  so  much  energy  in  the  enterprise. 
You  have  no  idea  of  the  complete  disorganization 
that  exists  in  every  sphere  of  the  government  in 
Russia.  Our  army  has  no  ammunition,  no  guns, 
no  provisions  of  any  kind.  A  war  to-day  would 
find  us  totally  unprepared,  and,  if  Germany  were 
really  our  enemy  as  she  is  represented  to  be,  she 
would  most  certainly  make  use  of  her  present  op- 
portunity to  declare  war  on  us.  In  a  year  or  two, 
thanks  to  the  Insistence  of  France,  we  might  find 
ourselves  in  a  far  better  position  than  we  are 
now." 

"  Do  you  authorize  me  to  repeat  this  in  Ber- 
lin? "  asked  the  captain. 

"  Most  certainly.  I  even  entreat  you  to  do 
so,"  answered  Massojedoff. 

This  conversation  gave  the  German  emissary  a 

71 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

good  deal  of  food  for  thought,  and  the  next  day 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  call  on  the  colonel  under 
the  pretext  of  inviting  him  to  dinner  in  return  for 
his  hospitality.  Colonel  Massojedoff  received 
him  as  soon  as  he  sent  up  his  card,  but  to  his  sur- 
prise the  colonel  was  not  alone.  Sitting  with  him 
was  a  young  man  with  a  sharp  nose  and  a  clean 
shaven  countenance  and  a  foreign  look  which 
characterized  his  whole  appearance  in  spite  of 
very  shabby  clothes  and  linen  of  a  doubtful  clean- 
liness. Massojedoff  immediately  introduced  the 
youth  as  Alexander  Feodorovitch  Kerensky. 

Captain  Rustenberg's  delight  was  unbounded 
and  he  made  the  most  of  his  opportunity  by  telling 
the  brilliant  young  advocate  that  in  meeting  him  he 
was  accomplishing  what  he  had  been  vainly  trying 
to  do  ever  since  he  had  been  in  Russia.  Kerensky 
seemed  surprised  at  the  words  and  inquired  to 
what  he  owed  the  honor,  as  he  expressed  it.  Cap- 
tain Rustenberg  answered  that  he  had  been  in 
Paris  recently  where  he  had  met  one  of  his  friends 
whose  name,  however,  he  did  not  feel  himself  at 
liberty  to  disclose  in  the  presence  of  the  colonel. 
The  latter  laughed  outright  and  said  that  there 
need  be  no  scruples,  because  when  he  happened  to 
be  among  friends  he  made  it  a  point  to  forget  that 
he  was  an  officer  of  gendarmes.     This  information 

72 


KERENSKY 

would  not  have  been  sufficient  to  make  the  captain 
speak  had  he  not  known  that  he  could  do  so  for 
other  reasons  than  Massojedoff  mentioned.  He 
burned  his  bridges  boldly  behind  him  and  told 
Kerensky  that  the  person  who  had  recommended 
that  he  try  to  meet  him  was  none  other  than 
loulianoff. 

The  demagogue's  face  at  once  became  serious. 

"  Yes,  I  know  loulianoff  well,"  he  said.  "  He 
is  one  of  the  fanatics  of  the  Social  Revolution,  but 
I  doubt  whether  he  has  a  program  of  what  it  has 
to  do  beyond  the  destruction  of  the  present  order 
of  things.  But  he  is  a  most  capable  man,  one  able 
to  lead  the  masses,  and  he  is  a  strength  with  which 
we  must  reckon  in  our  scheme  of  reforms  for  the 
future." 

"  I  do  not  think  that  he  is  practical  enough  ever 
to  become  a  leader,"  ventured  the  captain. 

"  That  is  where  you  are  mistaken !  "  exclaimed 
Kerensky.  "  We  do  not  require  practical  men  in 
Russia  at  the  present  moment.  What  we  want  is 
men  capable  of  rousing  the  masses  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  oppression  under  which  they  suffer, 
and  for  that  purpose  I  do  not  think  we  could  find 
anywhere  a  better  man  than  loulianoff.  Unfortu- 
nately," he  added  after  a  pause,  "  unfortunately, 
he  is  not  here." 

73 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

"  Do  you  think  that  the  moment  is  ripe  to 
arouse  the  masses  to  that  knowledge?  "  asked  the 
captain. 

"  Well,  perhaps  it  is  not,"  said  Kerensky. 
"  But  any  unexpected  incident  may  bring  it  about, 
such,  for  instance,  as  a  foreign  war  out  of  which  it 
is  certain  that  Russia  would  emerge  a  different 
country  than  it  is  to-day." 

"  It  is  curious  how  every  one  I  meet  speaks  of 
war,"  remarked  the  captain.  "  And  yet  there  is 
absolutely  no  mortal  reason  why  war  should  break 
out  to-day  when  it  did  not  last  year  when  the  Near- 
Eastern  complications  were  so  acute." 

"  When  have  you  seen  war  break  out  at  the 
time  it  was  expected?  "  inquired  the  young  advo- 
cate. "  War  is  in  the  air,  I  tell  you,  and  in  a  cer- 
tain sense  it  is  required  in  Russia  because  without 
war  we  will  never  be  able  to  obtain  the  liberties  to 
which  we  are  entitled.  Look  at  the  course  of  our 
history.  It  is  only  through  foreign  wars  that  we 
have  ever  risen  out  of  the  slavery  in  which  the 
Romanoffs  have  kept  us  enthralled.  The  Crimean 
War  gave  us  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs;  the 
war  with  Japan  our  phantom  of  a  constitution; 
another  war  would  give  us  liberty." 

"  You  forget  that  those  labor  classes  which  you 

74 


KERENSKY 

arc  supposed  to  lead  are  opposed  to  it,"  the  cap- 
tain remarked  drily. 

"Yes,  the  fools!  They  do  not  know  where 
their  interests  lie.  They  are  a  pack  of  selfish 
brutes  which  require  a  shock  of  some  kind  to 
arouse  them  from  their  apathy.  Sometimes  I 
wonder  whether  I  shall  be  able  to  go  on  with  this 
struggle  for  the  rights  of  the  masses  to  take  a  part 
in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  their  coun- 
try. Our  government  is  a  rotten  one.  Look  at 
the  difference  in  Germany,  and  its  wonderful  spirit 
of  organization;  look  at  the  way  its  leaders  take 
the  initiative  in  every  social  reform!  If  only  we 
had  some  one  capable  of  doing  the  same  thing 
here!     Ah,  if  only  I  were  the  master!  " 

"  What  would  you  do,  if  you  were  the  master, 
my  friend?  "  asked  Massojedoff,  suavely. 

"  What  would  I  do?  "  exclaimed  Kerensky,  vio- 
lently. "  You  would  soon  see  what  I  would  do! 
I  would  sweep  all  these  people  who  live  by  the 
sweat  of  the  workingman's  brow  from  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  in  order  to  do  this,  I  would  ally 
myself  with  the  Devil  himself,  if  he  could  lend  me 
a  hand." 

"  There  are  other  people  than  the  Devil  who 
could  help  you,"  remarked  the  colonel,  again  in  the 

75 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

same  soft  voice  he  had  used  all  through  the  con- 
versation. 

Kerensky  started  and  looked  him  full  in  the 
face.  Then  he  looked  at  Captain  Rustenberg,  but 
the  latter  had  already  understood  and  felt  that  it 
was  needless  to  continue  the  conversation.  He 
had  learned  what  he  wanted  and  he  began  to  un- 
derstand for  what  he  had  been  sent  to  Russia  at 
this  particular  moment.  He  was  just  wondering 
whether  he  should  go  or  not,  when  the  telephone 
rang.  Massojedoff  went  to  it  and  as  he  hung 
up  the  receiver  and  came  back  to  his  guests,  his 
face  was  white  and  drawn. 

"  Yes,"  he  said  slowly,  "  yes,  something  has 
happened.  The  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand, 
the  heir  to  the  Austrian  throne,  has  been  assassi- 
nated, together  with  his  wife,  at  Sarajevo,  by  a 
Serb  student." 

Kerensky  jumped  to  his  feet,  and  Captain  Rus- 
tenberg arose  also.  No  one  spoke,  but  all  three 
seemed  to  feel  as  though  a  new  chapter  in  the  his- 
tory of  Europe  had  opened  suddenly  —  that  it 
might  lead  the  world  very,  very  far  indeed. 


76 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  GREAT   STRIKE   IN    ST.    PETERSBURG 

Captain  Rustenberg  was  wondering  whether  he 
ought  to  return  to  Berlin  or  not  when  a  message 
from  Count  von  Pourtales  called  him  to  the  Em- 
bassy. He  was  given  telegrams  in  code  which 
proved  to  be  orders  to  remain  in  Russia  until  re- 
called and  to  try  and  bring  about  the  strike  about 
which  he  had  heard  so  much.  He  was  also  ad- 
vised that  a  considerable  credit  had  been  opened 
for  him  at  the  International  Bank,  the  shares  of 
which,  as  he  knew,  were  almost  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  great  German  banking  institutions,  such 
as  the  Disconto  Gesellschaft,  Mendelssohn  and 
Company  and  the  Deutsche  Bank.  The  captain 
was  informed  that  he  could  use  this  credit  accord- 
ing to  his  needs  without  any  further  reference  to 
his  chiefs  who  preferred  to  avoid  direct  communi- 
cation with  him.  At  the  same  time  Count  von 
Pourtales  gave  him  letters  from  Berlin  in  which  he 
found  among  other  things  a  copy  of  the  circular 
which  had  been  sent  by  the  German  government 

77 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

to  different  groups  of  German  banks  calling  on 
them  to  open  in  haste  agencies  in  Luleo,  Hapa- 
randa  and  Varda  on  the  Finnish  frontier  and  also 
in  Bergen,  in  Norway,  and  Amsterdam  in  Hol- 
land. Captain  Rustenberg  knew  that  the  opening 
of  these  agencies  had  been  decided  upon  long  be- 
fore in  case  of  the  danger  of  the  breaking  out  of 
a  European  war,  and  the  fact  that  this  decision  had 
been  brought  into  execution  convinced  him  that 
Europe  was  really  on  the  eve  of  such  a  cataclysm. 

In  this  circular  the  captain  noted  that  among  the 
establishments  of  credit  abroad  referred  to  as 
likely  to  prove  useful  to  the  German  government, 
the  Nya  Bank  in  Stockholm  was  one  of  the  first 
mentioned.  During  the  few  days  he  had  re- 
mained in  the  Swedish  capital,  he  had  interviewed 
Mr.  Aschberg,  the  director  of  the  bank,  who  had 
informed  him  that  he  had  received  recently  consid- 
erable sums  from  the  State  Bank  in  Berlin  with 
instructions  to  keep  them  at  the  disposal  of  the 
German  government. 

Captain  Rustenberg  had  known  Olaf  Aschberg 
for  a  long  time.  The  banker  had  been  in  the  em- 
ploy of  Germany  for  a  number  of  years  and  had 
helped  her  in  different  financial  transactions  in 
Russia  as  well  as  in  the  United  States,  which,  for 
reasons  best  known  to  the  "  Professor  "  and  to 

78 


THE  GREAT  STRIKE 

other  lights  in  the  Intelligence  Department,  it 
would  have  been  inadvisable  to  carry  openly. 
Aschberg  was  an  exceedingly  able  man  who  thor- 
oughly understood  the  manipulation  of  figures. 
Captain  Rustenberg  felt  sure  that  he  was  w«ll  in- 
formed as  to  the  real  aims  Germany  had  in  view, 
and  that  he,  together  with  other  financiers,  had 
drawn  up  the  plan  of  campaign  which  would  allow 
Germany  to  spend  the  large  sums  under  his  con- 
trol with  advantage. 

Captain  Rustenberg  also  heard  another  thing, 
but  strange  to  say  it  was  Colonel  Massojedoff  who 
informed  him  of  it  at  another  interview  the  day 
following  the  assassination  of  the  poor  Archduke. 
As  far  back  as  June  9  the  German  government 
had  informed  all  industrial  concerns  in  Germany 
that  they  were  to  open  the  sealed  documents  which 
they  received  regularly  every  year  from  the  Gen- 
eral Staff  and  which  concerned  the  industrial 
mobilization  plans  of  the  whole  country.  The  ex- 
planation given  for  this  extraordinary  measure 
was  that  the  military  authorities  wanted  a  re- 
hearsal of  what  would  have  to  be  done  in  case  of 
war.  But  this  explanation  did  not  satisfy  the 
captain  in  the  least,  whether  it  did  others  or  not. 

In  the  meantime  the  preparations  for  the  visit 
of  the  French  President  continued,  but  as  they 

79 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

went  on,  the  growing  agitation  among  the  labor 
circles  became  more  obvious.  Meetings  were  held 
without  the  consent  of  the  police  and  Kerensky, 
among  others,  talked  openly  of  the  necessity  for 
labor  to  organize  against  capital  and  called  upon 
the  workmen  to  rise  against  the  shameful  exploita- 
tion, as  they  called  it,  of  their  toil  by  a  few  men 
who  wanted  to  make  millions  easily.  The  visit  of 
M,  Poincare  was  represented  as  a  call  to  arms  of 
Russia,  and  most  of  the  leaders  of  the  labor  groups 
made  vigorous  speeches  in  which  they  said  that 
Russia  had  had  enough  of  war  during  the  cam- 
paign against  Japan  and  that,  if  any  one  tried  to 
draw  her  into  another  campaign,  it  would  be  little 
short  of  a  crime. 

One  morning  came  the  news  that  a  part  of  the 
Poutiloff  factory  had  gone  on  strike  and  in  the 
course  of  a  few  hours  all  or  nearly  all  of  the  other 
Industrial  establishments  of  the  capital  had  fol- 
lowed its  example.  Cabmen  also  declared  that 
they  had  had  enough  of  their  trade,  and  leaving 
their  horses  in  the  stables  loitered  in  the  streets 
and  watched  the  processions  which  tried  to  parade 
here  and  there.  The  bakers  soon  followed  suit, 
so  that  on  the  day  M.  Poincare  was  expected  to 
make  his  entry  into  Russia,  the  capital  found  itself 
without  bread,  without  newspapers  and  without 

80 


THE  GREAT  STRIKE 

cabs,  not  to  speak  of  several  other  things  of  less 
importance. 

The  strike,  because  strike  it  was,  though  it  ex- 
tended to  something  like  three  hundred  thousand 
people,  was  an  orderly  one.  No  acts  of  violence 
were  committed,  if  we  except  the  holding  up  of  a 
few  tram  cars.  In  the  fashionable  streets  of  St. 
Petersburg  there  were  no  disturbances  of  any  kind, 
but  in  the  Wiborg  quarter  where  most  of  the  fac- 
tories were  located  windows  were  broken  and  the 
red  flag  displayed. 

An  amusing  anecdote  was  told  about  the  dis- 
play of  the  red  flag.  Workmen  carried  it  in  one 
of  the  processions  which  filled  the  streets.  But 
.  .  .  instead  of  the  pure  red  standard  of  Anarchy 
they  had  little  tri-colored  banners.  They  skilfully 
contrived  to  dissimulate  the  white  and  blue  stripes 
when  out  of  sight  of  the  police.  But  whenever 
the  police  appeared,  the  French  emblem  was  dis- 
played with  ostentation.  Of  course  the  police 
noted  the  trick,  but  they  were  powerless  in  the 
presence  of  a  violation  of  the  law  which  could 
never  be  proved.  The  same  thing  happened  with 
regard  to  the  Marseillaise  which  was  heard  every- 
where. It  was  impossible  for  the  authorities  to 
object  to  it  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  had  been 
played  before  the  Czar  when  he  welcomed  M. 

8i 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

Poincare,  and  yet  everybody  felt  that  the  reason 
the  famous  hymn  had  all  at  once  become  popular 
was  not  because  those  who  sang  it  with  such  en- 
thusiasm intended  to  make  themselves  pleasant  to 
the  French  President. 

The  government  was  greatly  embarrassed.  It 
was  out  of  the  question  to  call  the  troops  to  subdue 
the  strike  as  would  have  undoubtedly  been  done  at 
other  times.  They  could  not  give  a  spectacle  of 
civil  war  during  the  visit  of  the  head  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  an  allied  nation.  The  Guard  regi- 
ments, on  which  the  Court  relied,  were  at  the  camp 
of  Krasnoie  Selo  for  the  summer  mahoeuvers  and 
it  would  have  made  an  immense  sensation  if  they 
had  been  called  back.  Nevertheless  this  was 
done,  but  under  cover  of  night,  and  it  was  decided 
that  as  soon  as  M.  Poincare  had  sailed  from 
Peterhof  strong  measures  of  repression  would  be 
resorted  to  against  the  strikers  who  had  chosen 
such  an  inopportune  time  for  their  manifestations. 

But  the  strikers  seemed  to  have  been  warned  in 
some  mysterious  manner  of  what  was  in  store  for 
them,  for  no  sooner  had  the  president  taken  leave 
of  his  Imperial  hosts  than  they  resumed  work  and 
settled  to  their  usual  occupations.  During  the 
eight  days'  strike  they  had  asked  nothing  and  on 
the  whole  had  behaved  extremely  well.     It  was 

82 


THE  GREAT  STRIKE 

impossible,  therefore,  to  attempt  anything  against 
them,  the  more  so  that  on  the  morning  following 
the  departure  of  M.  Poincare  the  aspect  of  St. 
Petersburg  was  perfectly  normal  and  not  a  man 
was  absent  from  his  work  anywhere.  The  news- 
papers reappeared  as  if  nothing  whatever  had 
been  the  matter;  the  cabmen  were  at  their  posts; 
the  bakers  again  began  to  deliver  their  loaves,  and 
the  postmen  and  telegraph  boys  resumed  their  for- 
mer occupations.  Not  one  of  them  would  say  that 
he  had  been  on  strike,  and  to  the  question  why  they 
had  not  reported  for  work  they  invariably  replied 
that  they  had  been  ill  and  unable  to  move. 

The  authorities  were  nonplussed.  But  soon 
other  preoccupations  came  to  divert  public  atten- 
tion from  this  unexplained  manifestation  of  the 
laboring  classes  against  the  government.  The 
Austrian  ultimatum  to  Servia  was  launched  and  for 
twenty-four  hours  no  one  talked  or  thought  of 
anything  else.  It  was  at  this  juncture  that  a  ter- 
rific looking  Jew  appeared  one  morning  at  the 
hotel  where  Captain  Rustenberg  was  staying  and 
insisted  on  seeing  him.  At  last  the  captain  was 
compelled  to  receive  him,  though  most  unwillingly. 
The  Jew  turned  out  to  be  Adolphe  Joffe,  about 
whom  Mr.  Barker  had  spoken.  He  was  an  awful 
creature  but  a  clever  fellow,  and  one  who,  it  was 

83 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

quite  evident  from  the  first  moment  he  opened 
his  mouth,  was  not  troubled  with  anything  so  in- 
convenient as  scruples  in  any  shape  or  form.  He 
told  the  captain  that  he  had  been  staying  in  St. 
Petersburg  for  the  past  six  months  or  so,  working 
among  the  anarchist  circles  of  the  capital,  where, 
he  assured  him,  he  had  obtained  useful  informa- 
tion, but  that  now  he  thought  it  was  time  for  him 
to  go  abroad  again.  It  was  most  likely,  it  seemed 
to  him,  that  the  position  of  his  coreligionists  was 
about  to  become  even  more  complicated  and  diffi- 
cult than  was  already  the  case.  When  the  cap- 
tain asked  him  why  he  thought  this  was  the  case, 
he  smiled  that  abominable  fat  smile  peculiar  to  his 
race  and  assured  his  host  that  he  ought  not  to  ask 
him  such  a  question  as  he  knew  much  better  than 
he  did  himself  that  what  he  was  telling  was  noth- 
ing but  the  truth. 

Captain  Rustenberg  began  to  think  that  it  was 
high  time  for  him  to  turn  his  back  on  St.  Peters- 
burg where  his  position  was  just  as  likely  to  be- 
come disagreeable  if  the  peace  of  Europe  was 
really  put  in  jeopardy.  Joffe  did  not  Inspire  him 
with  the  slightest  confidence  and  in  fact  the  captain 
suspected  him  of  being  a  spy  in  the  employ  of  the 
Russian  police,  which  he  most  probably  was,  and 
so  he  asked  him  point  blank  what  he  wanted  of 

84 


THE  GREAT  STRIKE 

him  and  why  he  had  come  to  him.  Joffe  replied 
that  he  had  heard  that  the  captain  was  a  great 
friend  of  Count  von  Pourtales  and  so  he  had  ap- 
plied to  him  in  the  hope  that  he  would  put  in  a 
good  word  for  the  poor  Jew  during  one  of  his  con- 
versations with  the  Count  and  ask  the  latter  for  a 
passport  so  that  he,  Joffe,  might  leave  the  coun- 
try. By  that  time  the  captain's  suspicions  had 
increased  considerably  and  he  told  his  unwelcome 
visitor  that  he  had  no  intention  of  doing  anything 
of  the  kind  as  the  matter  did  not  concern  him  and 
that  he'd  better  go  to  the  Ambassador  himself 
and  see  what  the  Count  could  do  for  him. 

Joffe  seemed  to  take  this  advice  in  good  part, 
smiled  again  and  took  his  leave  without  displaying 
any  disappointment  at  the  small  impression  which 
he  had  produced.  When  the  captain  thought 
Joffe  had  been  gone  a  sufficiently  long  time  so  that 
he  would  not  risk  meeting  him  in  the  street,  he  left 
the  hotel  in  his  turn  and  went  to  the  Embassy. 
He  wanted  to  find  out  whether  it  was  advisable  to 
send  a  telegram  in  code  to  his  chiefs,  but  Count 
von  Pourtales,  preoccupied  and  anxious,  implored 
him  to  do  nothing  of  the  kind,  as  he  had  reasons 
to  suspect  that  everybody  and  everything  con- 
nected with  the  Embassy  was  being  strictly 
watched  by  the  Russian  police.     He  added  that 

85 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

the  only  advice  he  could  give  the  captain  was  to 
leave  Rursia  immediately.  This  was  not  easy  for 
him  to  do,  for  his  orders  had  been  most  precise  on 
the  point  of  moving  until  he  was.  recalled  to  Ber-- 
lin.  Still  he  recognized  the  wisdom  of  the  Am- 
bassador's warning  and  he  would  have  given  a 
good  deal  to  have  been  able  to  communicate  with 
the  "  Professor." 

As  the  captain  was  walking  gloomily  back  on 
the  Nevsky  Prospect  and  wondering  what  to  do, 
he  met  Colonel  Massojedoff,  who  stopped  him  im- 
mediately. He  said  that  he  was  very  glad  to  be 
able  to  take  leave  of  the  captain  as  he  was  going 
back  to  Wirballen  that  night  having  received  or- 
ders to  return  to  his  post  at  once.  He  then  asked 
the  captain  whether  he  could  be  of  any  use  to  him 
by  sending  a  letter  or  telegram  for  him  from 
Eydtkhunen,  the  Prussian  frontier  station  five 
minutes  from  Wirballen. 

"  You  can  trust  me  to  do  so,"  he  added  signifi- 
cantly. 

Captain  Rustenberg  thought  for  a  moment  and 
then  decided  that  it  was  best  to  try  and  avail  him- 
self of  this  unexpected  opportunity.  He  went 
into  a  cafe  and  wrote  out  a  message  simply  asking 
whether  business  required  his  presence  at  home,  a 
message  which  could  compromise  no  one  In  case  it 

86 


THE  GREAT  STRIKE 

fell  into  the  wrong  hands.  Then  he  bade  the 
colonel  good-by  and  shook,  hands  with  him  cor- 
dially. 

The  colonel  Icept  his  promise  faithfully,  for  the 
next  evening  the  captain  received  a  wire  with  the 
simple  words,  *'  Advise  return  at  once."  As  may 
be  imagined  he  lost  no  time  in  taking  the  hint  and 
left  St.  Petersburg  the  next  day. 


87 


CHAPTER  VIII 

GERMANY   REALLY   MEANS   WAR 

The  journey  to  Berlin  via  Wirballen  and 
Konigsberg  was  peaceful  and  uneventful. 
Though  alarmist  rumors  had  been  going  the 
rounds  in  St.  Petersburg  the  two  or  three  days  pre- 
ceding the  captain's  departure,  these  rumors  did 
not  appear  to  have  gone  further  than  the  capital, 
for  everything  seemed  perfectly  quiet  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  country.  There  were  no  movements 
of  troops,  and  the  railway  service  went  on  as 
usual.  Even  in  Kovno,  where  on  account  of  its 
importance  as  a  fortress  one  might  have  expected 
to  see  a  certain  animation  prevailing,  the  station 
appeared  as  quiet  as  it  had  always  been  and  the 
gendarmes  on  duty  were  just  as  sleepy  as  in  for- 
mer times.  The  train  stopped  two  hours  at  Wir- 
ballen for  the  examination  of  passports,  but  the 
station  master  and  the  military  officials  entrusted 
with  the  care  of  the  frontier  did  not  even  question 
the  travelers  from  St.  Petersburg  which  they  would 
have  undoubtedly  done  had  they  suspected  that 

88 


GERMANY  REALLY  MEANS  WAR 

such  a  grave  event  as  war  with  Germany  was  im- 
pending. 

Captain  Rustenberg  found  his  old  friend 
Colonel  Massojedoff  awaiting  the  train  on  the  sta- 
tion platform,  who  immediately  singled  him  out 
and  came  up  to  him.  The  colonel  greeted  him 
cordially,  saying  that  he  had  expected  him  and 
adding  that  since  he  was  there  it  proved  that  the 
telegram  he  had  sent  had  reached  its  destination. 
Of  course  the  captain  thanked  him  for  his  kindness 
in  sending  it  off  and  then  Massojedoff  drew  him 
aside  to  his  own  room  and  questioned  him  with  a 
certain  anxiety  as  to  what  had  happened  in  St. 
Petersburg  during  the  past  two  days.  The  cap- 
tain answered  to  the  best  of  his  ability  and  said 
that  though  the  town  was  evidently  excited  and 
street  manifestations  had  taken  place,  the  aspect 
was  not  alarming  by  any  means,  and  he  added  that 
he  could  not  understand  the  reasons  for  the  panic 
which  seemed  suddenly  to  have  seized  certain 
people.  At  this  time  Captain  Rustenberg  could 
not  bring  himself  to  believe  that  there  was  going  to 
be  war,  though,  of  course,  he  recognized  fully 
that  the  attitude  of  the  German  government  was 
very  strange  and  justified  to  a  certain  extent  the 
feelings  of  anxiety  on  the  part  of  the  alarmists. 

Massojedoff  listened  with  great  attention,  then 
89 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

to  the  captain's  surprise  took  a  paper  from  his 
pocket  and  simply  put  it  before  the  latter's  eyes. 
It  was  the  secret  order  of  mobilization  issued  by 
the  German  staff,  dated  the  seventeenth  of  July; 
it  was  then  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  month. 

Captain  Rustenberg  looked  at  the  colonel  and 
with  an  emotion  which  he  felt  he  could  not  well 
control  asked  him  by  what  means  this  document 
had  come  into  his  hands.  He  supposed  that  some 
spy  or  other  had  brought  it,  but  the  colonel  seemed 
to  read  his  thoughts  on  the  subject,  for  he  re- 
marked that  he  need  not  worry  as  to  how  he  had 
come  into  possession  of  this  scrap  of  paper  because 
it  had  been  through  legitimate  means.  And  then 
he  added: 

"  Yes,  we  are  going  to  see  great  events,  but  I 
hope  that  out  of  them  Russia  will  emerge  stronger 
and  more  powerful  than  she  has  ever  been  before. 
This  campaign  will  be  a  short  one,  and  the  shorter 
it  is  the  better  it  will  be  in  the  long  run.  Russia 
must  recognize  that  all  her  vital  interests  require 
an  intimate  alliance  with  the  German  Empire;  she 
never  could  have  concluded  it  in  view  of  her  pre- 
vious engagements  with  France.  It  must,  there- 
fore, be  imposed  on  her,  and  how  can  this  be  un- 
less she  is  beaten  in  the  field?  A  war  in  which  she 
is  the  vanquished  party  will  certainly  be  a  blessing 

90 


GERMANY  REALLY  MEANS  WAR 

in  disguise  for  her,  and  every  true  Russian  patriot 
ought  to  wish  for  that  day  to  dawn  as  quickly  as 
possible." 

Captain  Rustenberg  listened  to  this  speech  in 
amazement  and  he  might  have  replied  to  it,  if  at 
that  moment  a  timid  knock,  had  not  been  heard  at 
the  door.  "  Come  in,"  said  the  colonel,  impa- 
tiently, and  who  should  appear  on  the  scene,  but 
the  captain's  acquaintance  of  a  few  days  before 
whom  he  had  treated  so  badly,  M.  Adolphe  Joffe. 

The  Jew  came  in  rather  diffidently,  and  as  the 
captain  looked  at  him,  he  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  never  in  his  life  had  he  seen  anything  more 
repulsive  than  the  face  and  figure  of  this  Joffe. 
He  had  enormous  ears  which  seemed  as  if  Nature 
had  stuck  them  on  the  side  of  his  head  as  an  after- 
thought; they  were  large,  wide  and  dirty,  and  alto- 
gether took  up  so  much  room  that  they  hardly  left 
any  for  his  other  features.  A  small,  unkempt 
little  tuft  of  hair  on  his  chin  with  some  pretensions 
to  be  called  a  beard  gave  him  the  look  of  some  low 
beast  of  prey,  a  hyena  or  something  of  that  kind. 
He  was  broad  shouldered  and  fat,  disagreeably 
fat,  if  one  can  use  the  word,  for  his  corpulence 
seemed  entirely  unhealthy.  But  the  eyes  were 
bright  and  keen  and  scanned  curiously  everything 
around  him  with  an  expression  which  justified  any 

91 


THE  F'IREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

prejudices  one  might  entertain  towards  him. 
Joffe  might  be  a  clever  man,  the  captain  thought, 
but  he  was  sure  that  it  would  be  no  hbel  to  say  that 
he  could  by  no  means  be  an  honest  one. 

Massojedoff  also  seemed  disagreeably  im- 
pressed by  the  Jew's  presence,  and  asked  him 
rather  roughly  what  he  wanted.  Joffe  at  once 
became  as  humble  as  humble  could  be,  and  inquired 
with  some  hesitation  whether  certain  letters  which 
he  had  been  expecting  and  which  ought  to  have 
been  addressed  to  him  at  Wirballen  in  care  of  the 
colonel  had  arrived.  The  latter  looked  at  the 
captain  as  if  to  see  whether  he  had  heard  what  the 
Jew  had  been  saying,  but  he  made  no  sign  that  he 
was  paying  any  attention  to  what  was  going  on  in 
the  room.  The  fact  was  that  he  did  not  care  to 
show  that  he  knew  the  illustrious  Joffe,  who,  he 
felt  sure,  was  up  to  some  dirty  work,  and  some- 
thing told  him  that  the  Jew  had  been  unpleasantly 
impressed  by  the  fact  of  his  presence  in  the  room 
and  that  he  was  not  going  to  show  that  they  were 
acquainted  with  each  other.  What  puzzled  the 
captain  was  to  find  him  in  communication  with 
Massojedoff.  By  this  time  he  was  aware  of  the 
double  game  the  colonel  was  playing  and  knew 
that  he  was  as  much  an  agent  of  Germany  as  he 
was  in  the  service  of  the  Czar.     But  the  captain 

92 


GERMANY  REALLY  MEANS  WAR 

would  not  have  thought  that  the  colonel  could 
have  anything  in  common  with  the  little  Hebrew 
who,  he  believed,  was  quite  a  subordinate  member 
of  the  German  Intelligence  Service. 

The  colonel  went  to  a  small  cupboard  in  the 
corner  of  the  room  and  took  out  a  small  parcel  of 
papers  which  he  handed  to  Joffe.  The  latter 
seized  them  with  eagerness  and  bowed  himself 
from  the  apartment.  Just  as  he  was  about  to 
close  the  door,  Massojedoff  stopped  him. 

"  Are  you  crossing  the  border  with  this  train  ?  " 
he  asked. 

"  No,"  answered  Joffe,  "  I  mean  to  cross  it  to- 
morrow. I  wanted  to  go  back  to  Kovno  to- 
night." 

"  Then  don't  do  so,"  said  the  colonel.  *'  The 
sooner  you  are  out  of  the  country  the  better.  Go, 
and  Hell  be  with  you,"  he  added  under  his  breath. 

Joffe  bowed  again  and  withdrew  as  quietly  as  he 
had  come.  The  Russian  officer  turned  to  Captain 
Rustenberg  with  the  remark: 

"  You  see,  this  man  is  one  of  the  most  danger- 
ous anarchists  we  have  ever  had  in  this  country, 
but  try  and  trap  him  as  we  would  we  have  never 
succeeded  in  finding  him  in  any  propaganda  work 
which  would  have  justified  his  arrest.  He  pre- 
tends to  be  an  honest  trader  engaged  in  legitimate 

93 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

business,  and  several  times  he  has  proved  useful 
to  us  in  ferreting  out  smugglers  who,  as  you  may 
imagine,  are  very  active  in  Wirballen.  Person- 
ally I  detest  the  fellow,  and  I  would  like  to  have 
him  out  of  the  country  at  the  present  juncture. 
That  is  why  I  advised  him  to  cross  the  frontier 
to-day.     Shall  we  go  to  the  restaurant?  " 

Evidently  the  colonel  wanted  to  explain  his  re- 
lations with  the  spy,  and  Captain  Rustenberg 
thought  it  wise  to  accept  his  explanations.  In  his 
inmost  heart  he  thought  that  there  was  not  much 
difference  between  M.  Joffe  and  Colonel  Massoje- 
doff,  except  their  looks.  One  was  a  handsome 
man  with  a  prepossessing  appearance,  while  the 
other  was  a  repulsive  looking  creature.  But  they 
did  the  same  work,  a  work  of  which  the  captain 
did  not  approve,  for  he  already  considered  that 
the  only  thing  which  would  justify  it  was  the  fact 
that  it  was  performed  for  one's  country.  And 
neither  the  amiable  officer  who  was  talking  to  him 
nor  the  Hebrew  trader  was  a  German  so  far  as 
he  knew. 

Captain  Rustenberg  parted  from  Massojedoff 
amiably  enough  and  the  latter  procured  him  a  com- 
fortable compartment  in  the  sleeping  car  which  was 
to  take  him  to  Berlin,  where  the  train  was  due  next 

94 


GERMANY  REALLY  MEANS  WAR 

morning.  The  captain  was  tired  and  hoped  for 
a  good  night's  rest,  but  he  found  that  this  was  im- 
possible on  account  of  the  constant  interruptions 
in  the  journey.  If  everything  was  quiet  in  Rus- 
sia, this  was  certainly  not  the  case  in  Germany. 
The  train  was  delayed  everywhere  owing  to  the 
passage  of  what  one  would  have  called  military 
trains,  if  one  had  not  been  told  by  the  station  mas- 
ter at  Konigsberg  that  they  were  merely  goods 
trucks  carrying  a  quantity  of  material  to  Russia. 
He  did  not  add  that  it  was  never  intended  that 
these  materials  should  reach  their  destination,  but 
that  they  were  to  remain  on  the  frontier  line,  as 
the  captain  knew  was  to  be  the  case.  If  he  had 
hoped  that  the  sinister  forebodings  which  had 
robbed  him  of  his  rest  for  the  past  few  days  were 
due  only  to  overwrought  nerves,  he  could  no  longer 
believe  that  this  was  so  after  the  trip  from  Eydt- 
khunen  to  Berlin.  He  could  see  that  Germany 
really  meant  war  and  that  the  time  had  come  when 
the  German  nation  was  to  make  its  supreme  effort 
to  gain  at  last  that  hegemony  of  the  world  for 
which  it  had  been  working  for  half  a  century. 
The  only  thing  that  puzzled  the  captain  was  why 
this  particular  time  and  moment  had  been  chosen 
among  all  others  to  set  a  match  to  the  terrible  con- 

95 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

flagration  which  was  to  turn  Europe  into  a  mass 
of  ruins.  He  obtained  a  reply  to  this  question 
yery  soon. 

Captain  Rustenberg  reached  Berlin  at  noon  in- 
stead of  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  his 
train  would  have  been  due  under  other  circum- 
stances. He  at  once  went  to  his  hotel,  had  a  bath 
and  changed  his  clothes,  and  then  started  in  search 
of  the  "  Professor."  For  a  wonder  he  found  him 
at  the  Foreign  Office  in  his  old  room  to  which  he 
seemed  to  have  returned.  As  usual  in  grave  mo- 
ments he  was  very  serious  and  not  at  all  communi- 
cative. His  first  words  though  polite  were  not 
encouraging  for  it  seemed  to  the  captain  that  he 
had  lost  interest  in  the  mission  he  had  entrusted 
to  his  agent  a  few  weeks  before  and  that  it  did  not 
matter  any  longer  what  was  going  on  in  St.  Peters- 
burg. Nevertheless  the  "  Professor "  listened 
with  attention,  and,  when  the  captain  had  con- 
cluded, he  arose  from  his  chair  and  remarked  with 
a  weary  accent : 

"  All  this  is  very  well ;  the  question  is  how  long 
this  war  will  last." 

"  So  it  is  war?  "  said  the  captain. 

"  Of  course.  Did  you  for  one  moment  think 
that  it  would  be  otherwise?  Yes,  it  is  war;  we 
really  mean  war  this  time,  and  a  few  days  from 

96 


GERMANY  REALLY  MEANS  WAR 

now  will  see  it  a  reality.  This  does  not  worry  me, 
because  I  know  that  we  shall  win  the  struggle. 
But  what  weighs  on  my  mind  is  the  future  and  the 
length  of  time  this  struggle  will  take.  The  Ger- 
man machine  is  a  wonderful  thing,  but  I  am  not 
quite  sure  whether  it  will  stand  well  the  wear  and 
tear  a  lengthy  campaign  would  mean.  The  whole 
question  is  how  soon  Russia  can  be  brought  to  her 
knees  and  compelled  to  conclude  an  alliance  with 
us.  This  alliance  would  bring  about  the  establish- 
ment of  our  commercial  and  industrial  superiority 
and  omnipotence  in  the  whole  world.  However, 
these  are  questions  which  the  future  alone  can  an- 
swer. In  the  meantime  we  must  hope  for  the 
best  and  go  on  working  as  well  as  we  have  worked 
to  the  present  day.  Now  give  me  your  letters,  if 
you  have  brought  any  with  you." 

The  captain  handed  the  chief  a  few  missives 
which  had  been  entrusted  to  him,  and  the  "  Pro- 
fessor "  dismissed  him  with  the  remark  that  he 
would  probably  want  him  to  return  the  next  day 
when  they  could  talk  matters  over  quietly  and  dis- 
cuss the  impressions  the  captain  had  brought  back 
from  St.  Petersburg.  After  the  captain  had  taken 
his  leave  of  the  *'  Professor,"  he  was  going  down 
the  steep  staircase  of  the  Foreign  Office  on  his  way 
to  his  hotel  when  he  was  attracted  by  the  figure  of 

97 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

a  man  emerging  from  one  of  the  doors  which  com- 
municated directly  with  the  room  sacred  to  the 
Chancellor  of  the  German  Empire  and  where  he 
transacted  his  private  business.  This  figure  some- 
how seemed  familiar  to  the  captain  and  looking  at 
it  more  closely  he  recognized,  dressed  in  the  best 
and  most  fashionable  clothes,  the  creature  he  had 
nearly  kicked  out  of  his  room  at  St.  Petersburg 
and  afterwards  affected  to  ignore  at  Wirballen, 
M.  Adolphe  Joffe. 


98 


CHAPTER  IX 

COLONEL   MASSOJEDOFF's   LAST  VISIT  TO   BERLIN 

This  is  not  a  story  of  the  war,  so  it  is  useless  to 
relate  the  events  which  followed  the  captain's  re- 
turn to  Berlin  or  to  describe  the  state  of  efferves- 
cence in  which  the  population  was  thrown  when  it 
heard  that  both  Russia  and  France  had  attacked 
the  German  Empire.     For  this  was  the  official 
version  which  the  government  asked  the-  people 
to  accept  and  believe.     Numerous  demonstrations 
of  loyalty  towards  the  reigning  house  occurred, 
and  all  the  members  of  the  royal  family  were 
wildly  cheered  when  they  showed  themselves  on 
the  street.     The  Kaiser  appeared  on  the  balcony 
of  the  Schloss  and  made  his  memorabh  speech  in 
which  he  declared  that  he  knew  henceforth  no 
political  parties  in  the  country  and  considered  all 
citizens  as  Germans.     What  else  they  could  have 
been  has  never  been  ascertained  so  far  as  I  know. 
The  words  lacked  common  sense,  but  they  were 
accepted  as  one  of  the  most  wonderful  sayings  that 
had  ever  been  heard.     The  enthusiasm  was  in- 

99 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

tense  and  surpassed  anything  that  had  ever  been 
seen  or  thought  possible.  When  the  Guards  left 
for  the  front,  there  were  scenes  of  wild  excitement 
and  everywhere  the  people  were  shouting,  "  To 
Paris!     To  Paris!" 

And  for  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  Germans 
were  going  to  Paris,  so  rapidly  did  the  troops 
march  on  the  French  capital.  So  fast  did  they 
march  that  the  next  thing  that  was  heard  was  that 
the  advanced  posts  had  reached  Compiegne  not- 
withstanding the  resistance  in  Belgium,  which  sur- 
prised the  German  people  more  than  one  can  tell, 
for  they  had  been  led  to  expect  that  the  little  coun- 
try whose  neutrality  was  being  trampled  under 
German  feet  with  such  superb  unconcern  was 
ready  to  receive  the  German  troops  with  open 
arms  and  only  too  willing  to  accept  their  Kultur. 
The  Belgian  affair  caused  considerable  heart  burn- 
ings, for  there  were  people  even  in  Germany  who 
thought  she  was  in  the  wrong  in  falling  on  a  poor 
little  country  which  she  had  promised  to  respect 
and  which  she  had  solemnly  bound  herself  never 
to  attack.  But,  of  course,  sentimental  reasons 
could  have  no  weight  with  the  General  Staff  which 
considered  it  essential  for  success  to  try  to  get  to 
Paris  by  the  shortest  route  and  in  the  quickest  time 
possible.     The  Intelligence  Department  did  won- 

lOO 


COLONEL  MASSOJEDOFF 

ders  at  this  juncture,  and  the  excellence  of  the  Ger- 
man system  of  spies  was  never  more  clearly  re- 
vealed than  during  the  trying  weeks  when  the  fate 
of  the  campaign  hung  in  the  balance.  Everywhere 
the  Prussians  found  that  they  had  been  informed 
most  accurately  by  their  agents  of  what  they  were 
to  find.  If  Namur,  Liege,  and,  later  on,  Antwerp 
fell  so  easily  into  the  hands  of  the  Germans,  it  was 
not  so  much  on  account  of  the  excellence  and  per- 
fection of  their  artillery  as  it  was  because  they 
had  in  their  possession  most  exact  plans  of  these 
fortresses  with  indications  of  the  weak  points  to 
be  attacked  in  order  to  insure  their  prompt  sur- 
render. 

But  meanwhile  things  were  not  going  so  well  on 
the  Russian  front.  The  armies  of  the  Czar  had 
invaded  East  Prussia  and  seemed  steadily  advanc- 
ing towards  Konigsberg  without  meeting  any  re- 
sistance worthy  of  the  name.  This  caused  great 
wonder  and  no  small  amount  of  bitterness  in  Ger- 
many in  general  and  in  Prussia  in  particular.  The 
Junkers  were  frantic  and  screamed  as  loud  as  they 
could,  or  rather  dared,  against  the  apathy  of  the 
government  that  was  allowing  the  invasion  of 
sacred  German  soil  which  it  had  been  promised 
would  never  be  defiled  by  the  foot  of  foreign  foe. 
The  fact  was  that  the  bulk  of  the  German  forces 

lOI 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

had  been  thrown  on  the  western  front  in  the  hope 
of  bringing  the  resistance  of  the  French  to  a  speedy 
end,  force  them  to  conclude  an  immediate  peace, 
and  thus  enable  the  armies  of  the  Kaiser  to  hurl 
themselves  on  the  armies  of  his  other  neighbor, 
Nicholas  II. 

However  things  did  not  turn  out  as  had  been 
planned.  For  one  thing  General  Joffre  turned  the 
cards  on  General  von  Kluck  and  obliged  him  to 
retreat  with  far  more  haste  than  he  had  shown  in 
advancing  towards  the  Marne.  The  German 
Staff  had  to  proceed  to  a  complete  change  in  its 
strategy  and  plans.  It  was  decided  to  try  and  re- 
trieve the  undoubted  loss  of  prestige  which  Ger- 
man arms  had  suffered  and  to  restore  the  shattered 
confidence  of  the  country  by  the  help  of  brilliant 
victories  on  the  eastern  front. 

Captain  Rustenberg  had  been  living  quietly  in 
Berlin  during  this  period,  seeing  his  chiefs  occa- 
sionally, but  doing  nothing  in  the  way  of  work. 
One  morning  he  was  called  to  the  telephone  and 
informed  that  his  presence  was  required  at  Head- 
quarters that  same  night.  He  obeyed,  of  course, 
and  at  about  eleven  o'clock  presented  himself  to 
Colonel  X.,  whom  he  found  in  anything  but  a 
pleasant  frame  of  mind.  He  did  not  keep  the 
captain  for  any  length  of  time,  but  briefly  ordered 

I02 


COLONEL  MASSOJEDOFF 

him  to  start  for  the  Russian  frontier  In  an  auto- 
mobile where  he  was  to  meet  a  Russian  officer. 
He  was  to  bring  him  to  Berlin  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible and  then  take  him  back  to  where  he  first 
found  him.  The  officer  would,  of  course,  not  be 
in  uniform,  but  he  would  be  waiting  for  the  captain 
at  a  point  near  Eydtkhunen  which  was  carefully 
shown  him  on  the  map. 

After  he  had  delivered  his  instructions,  Colonel 
X.  bowed  his  head  In  a  gesture  of  dismissal,  leav- 
ing the  captain  much  perplexed  as  he  had  received 
no  Indication  as  to  how  he  would  know  the  officer 
who,  he  did  not  doubt  for  a  moment,  was  a  spy 
who  had  entered  the  German  service,  probably 
with  the  promise  of  a  large  reward.  At  last  he 
ventured  to  ask  his  Chief  how  he  was  to  recognize 
the  man  he  had  been  told  to  bring  to  Berlin.  The 
colonel  raised  his  head  In  surprise  as  though  he 
had  not  given  a  thought  to  the  matter  and  then 
said  briefly: 

"Oh,  you  know  the  man  perfectly  well;  it  is 
Colonel  Massojedoff." 

Captain  Rustenberg  was  staggered  to  say  the 
least.  Of  course  he  was  perfectly  well  aware  that 
the  officer  in  question  was  betraying  his  country 
and  had  been  doing  so  for  some  time,  his  attitude 
in  St.  Petersburg  had  left  him  no  doubt  on  that 

103 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

score,  but  he  had  certainly  never  expected  that  the 
colonel  would  be  daring  enough  to  pay  Berlin  a 
visit  when  his  country  and  Germany  were  at  war. 
However  it  was  not  the  captain's  place  to  make 
remarks  to  his  Chief,  who  certainly  would  not  have 
tolerated  them,  so  he  silently  took  his  leave  and 
an  hour  later  was  already  on  his  way  towards  that 
Eydtkhunen  where  he  had  parted  a  few  weeks 
before  from  the  very  man  he  was  now  to  meet 
again  under  such  different  circumstances. 

Captain  Rustenberg  found  Massojedoff  at  the 
indicated  spot  dressed  in  plain  traveling  clothes 
with  a  thick  ulster  over  them  and  a  pair  of  blue 
spectacles  hiding  his  eyes.  The  colonel  greeted 
the  captain  with  more  effusion  than  the  latter 
showed  to  him.  The  fellow's  conduct  disgusted 
the  captain,  who  was  wondering  the  whole  time 
how  an  officer  of  such  rank,  who  had  been  en- 
trusted with  different  confidential  missions  by  his 
superiors,  who  certainly  held  him  in  high  esteem, 
could  stoop  to  make  himself  the  enemy  of  his 
country  for  money.  The  whole  thing  was  a  mys- 
tery to  the  captain,  the  more  so  as  the  man  himself 
was  certainly  sympathetic  and  would  have  seemed 
to  one  who  saw  him  for  the  first  time  an  exceed- 
ingly frank  and  straightforward  individual  with 
exquisite  manners  and  a  refined  mind.     He  would 

104 


COLONEL  MASSOJEDOFF 

have  been  the  last  person  to  be  suspected  of  selling 
to  the  enemy  the  secrets  of  his  Fatherland  and 
yet  here  he  was  doing  the  most  despicable  of  deeds, 
probably  in  the  hope  of  a  large  pecuniary  reward 
for  his  infamy. 

Captain  Rustenberg  tried  not  to  think  much 
about  the  matter  and  not  to  show  Massojedoff  the 
loathing  with  which  he  inspired  him,  so  he  pre- 
tended to  be  absorbed  in  his  driving  which  could 
easily  be  attributed  to  the  bad  state  of  the  roads. 
The  colonel  must  have  noticed  that  the  captain's 
manner  towards  him  was  changed,  for  he  suddenly 
laid  his  hand  on  the  latter's  arm  with  the  remark 
that  he  could  tell  what  he  was  thinking  about. 

Seeing  that  the  captain  did  not  reply,  he  went  on 
in  a  curious  detached  manner: 

"  You  are  very  indignant  with  me  and  you  are 
trying  hard  not  to  let  me  see  the  loathing  you  feel 
for  me.  Let  me  try,  therefore,  to  explain  matters 
to  you  and  give  me  the  chance  to  defend  myself. 
It  is  quite  true  that  I  am  what  the  world  calls 
a  traitor,  but  I  am  quite  willing  to  accept  the 
reprobation  of  that  world  and  to  submit  to  its 
censure,  because  1  know  that  in  acting  as  I  am  do- 
ing, I  am  serving  my  country  far  better  than  those 
who  are  trying  their  best  to  lead  it  to  ruin.  I  have 
always  been  of  the  opinion  that  the  only  way  for 

105 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

Russia  to  become  great  and  be  able  to  occupy  the 
position  she  is  entitled  to  in  Europe  is  to  act  in 
perfect  accord  with  Germany  and  to  share  with 
her  the  empire  of  the  world. 

"  The  French  alliance  will  never  be  of  use  to  us; 
all  our  interests  are  on  the  German  side,  and  Ger- 
many alone  can  civilize  us  by  admitting  us  to  the 
benefits  of  her  culture,  science  and  learning. 
Therefore  all  that  I  am  doing  to-day  is  In  perfect 
accord  with  the  opinions  I  have  always  professed, 
and  I  feel  that  I  am  rendering  an  inestimable 
service  to  my  country  in  trying  to  shorten  for  her 
the  trial  she  is  undergoing  and  bring  it  to  a  quick 
end.  When  we  are  thoroughly  beaten,  then  we 
shall  turn  our  backs  on  France  and  hand  in  hand 
with  Germany  we  shall  find  ourselves  on  the  road 
to  prosperity.  I  want  us  beaten  because  a  defeat 
alone  can  bring  us  to  our  senses  and  make  us  give 
up  the  ridiculous  political  notions  which  have 
brought  upon  us  the  present  catastrophe.  Believe 
me,  the  day  will  come  and  must  come  when  Ger- 
many and  Russia  will  be  the  best  and  closest  of 
friends,  and  it  is  in  order  to  hasten  that  day  that 
I  am  lending  myself  to  the  intrigue  in  which  you 
find  me  engaged  and  in  which  I  know  that  I  am 
risking  my  life." 

There  was  nothing  to  reply  to.  this  strange  con- 
io6 


COLONEL  MASSOJEDOFF 

fession,  and  Captain  Rustenberg  did  not  attempt  a 
discussion  about  this  curious  point  of  view.  He 
carried  his  traveling  companion  safely  to  Berlin 
where  the  colonel  spent  a  few  hours  during  which 
he  saw  the  principal  men  in  the  Intelligence  De- 
partment and,  so  it  was  reported,  the  Kaiser  him- 
self who  happened  to  be  in  the  capital  for  a  short 
sojourn.  Then  Captain  Rustenberg  took  Masso- 
jedoff  back  to  the  Russian  frontier.  As  they 
parted  the  colonel  made  no  offer  to  shake  hands, 
but  merely  said: 

"  Well,  I  do  not  suppose  that  we  shall  ever  meet 
again,  but  perhaps  when  you  hear  that  I  have  paid 
my  debt  you  will  think  of  me  more  leniently  than 
you  do  now." 

A  few  months  later  Massojedoff  was  found  out 
and  during  his  trial  repeated  exactly  what  he  had 
told  Captain  Rustenberg  during  this  memorable 
drive.  He  was,  of  course,  condemned  to  death, 
and  his  last  moments  were  terrible  because  he 
would  not  die  and  struggled  with  the  executioner  a 
long  time  before  the  latter  could  at  last  tighten  the 
fatal  noose.  One  would  have  been  tempted  to 
think  there  was  a  taint  of  madness  in  him  had  it 
not  been  for  one  damning  circumstance  —  the 
large  amount  of  money  the  German  government 
paid  him  for  his  treason.     As  for  the  reasons 

107 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

which  took  him  to  Berlin  on  that  day  when  Cap- 
tain Rustenberg  saw  him  for  the  last  time  they 
were  never  revealed  to  the  agent  but  from  what 
he  heard  later  on  it  seems  that  it  was  thanks  to  the 
information  the  spy  brought  on  that  occasion  that 
Field  Marshal  von  Hindenburg  was  able  to  lay 
out  the  plans  which  culminated  in  the  horror 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Battle  of  Tannenberg. 


io8 


CHAPTER  X 

THE    CAMPAIGN   IN   EASTERN   PRUSSIA 

Those  who  say  that  the  people  in  Germany  felt 
elated  during  the  first  six  weeks  of  the  war  make  a 
grievous  mistake,  for,  on  the  contrary,  public 
opinion  was  much  alarmed  when  it  became  known 
that  East  Prussia  had  been  invaded.  The  panic 
was  so  complete  that  there  was  talk  of  the  necessity 
of  evacuating  Konigsberg  and  even  Berlin.  Cap- 
tain Rustenberg  was  told  to  try  and  find  out  the 
exact  conditions  as  to  what  was  being  said  and 
thought  in  the  different  classes  of  society  and  the 
results  of  his  secret  investigations  convinced  him 
that  Germany's  military  leaders  ought  to  make  a 
supreme  efifort  in  order  to  restore  the  shattered 
confidence  of  the  nation.  The  fact  was  that  no 
one  had  wanted  the  war  and  the  only  way  to  make 
this  calamity  acceptable  to  the  country  was  to  con- 
vince the  people  that  the  German  army  was  still 
the  invincible  machine  it  had  proved  to  be  during 
the  lifetime  of  old  Emperor  William  and  of  Bis- 
marck and  Moltke. 

109 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

As  I  have  said,  after  the  battle  of  the  Marne 
the  plan  of  campaign  had  to  be  remodeled  and 
all  effort  given  to  the  annihilation  of  Russia.  But 
at  that  time  Russia  still  had  a  strong  army  which 
revolutionary  propaganda  had  not  yet  contami- 
nated and  a  considerable  effort  would  be  required 
to  bring  it  to  bay.  One  afternoon  Colonel  X. 
again  summoned  Captain  Rustenberg  and  asked 
him  quite  bluntly  whether  he  thought  it  possible 
to  ascertain  in  some  way  or  other  the  plans  of  the 
Russian  General  Staff.  Unfortunately  the  cap- 
tain could  be  of  no  assistance  in  that  capacity,  but, 
perhaps  out  of  malice  more  than  from  anything 
else,  he  suggested  that  Colonel  Massojedoff  might 
be  of  greater  service  than  himself  in  this  enter- 
prise. Colonel  X.  shrugged  his  shoulders  with  a 
gesture  of  impatience,  but  said  nothing.  He  then 
asked  the  captain  to  tell  him  what  he  thought  of 
the  whole  situation.  The  reply  was  short  and 
frank.  The  captain  explained  that  from  what  he 
had  been  able  to  learn  while  he  was  in  Russia  it 
seemed  to  him  that  the  most  important  thing  to  do 
would  be  to  win  a  decisive  victory  over  the  Rus- 
sian troops,  after  which  pressure  should  be  brought 
to  bear  on  public  opinion  in  Petrograd  so  as  to 
bring  a  speedy  cessation  of  hostilities.  The  press 
ought  to  be  influenced,  and,  he  added,  we  all  knew 

IIO 


THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  EASTERN  PRUSSIA 

by  what  means  such  a  result  could  be  obtained. 

Whether  what  the  captain  said  produced  any 
impression  is  unknown,  but  soon  after  this  conver- 
sation Germany  was  startled  by  the  news  of  the 
famous  battle  of  Tannenberg  and  in  the  three 
months  which  followed  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas 
had  to  retire  from  East  Prussia  under  the  pressure 
and  masterful  strokes  of  General  von  Hindenburg. 
What  might  be  called  the  first  phase  of  the  cam- 
paign ended  with  a  complete  triumph  for  the  Prus- 
sian arms. 

To  the  man  in  the  street  this  seemed  exceed- 
ingly satisfactory,  but  this  was  not  the  case  with 
the  German  Staff  who  all  the  time  they  had  been 
fighting  had  had  their  minds  riveted  on  the  hope  of 
concluding  an  honorable  peace  as  soon  as  possible. 
They  knew  full  well,  even  if  others  did  not,  how 
precarious  the  hold  of  the  Czar  on  his  throne  was, 
and  they  dreaded  a  revolution  which  might  drive 
him  into  exile  and  place  men  less  willing  and  less 
ready  than  they  thought  him  to  be  to  separate  the 
cause  of  Russia  from  that  of  the  Allies.  It  should 
not  be  forgotten  that  at  that  time  the  text  of  the 
famous  London  treaty  in  which  the  Allies  pledged 
themselves  not  to  conclude  a  separate  peace  inde- 
pendently of  each  other  was  not  known,  and  con- 
sequently the  German  government  could  hope  to 

III 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

succeed  in  detaching  Russia  from  England  and 
France,  while  Italy  had  not  yet  entered  the  conflict. 
It  may  perhaps  surprise  my  readers  when  I  say 
that  at  that  time  all  the  attention  of  German  di- 
plomacy as  well  as  that  of  the  Staff  was  directed 
towards  the  swift  conclusion  of  a  peace  which, 
they  were  well  aware,  was  the  only  means  of 
avoiding  crushing  disasters  in  the  future. 

There  were  important  conferences  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Intelligence  Department,  confer- 
ences during  which  all  or  nearly  all  its  most  trusted 
agents  were  asked  their  opinion  in  regard  to  a 
formidable  plan  of  spying  and  corruption  of  im- 
portant personages  in  Russia,  which  it  was  in- 
tended to  put  into  execution.  The  vast  scheme  of 
fomenting  a  revolution  to  detach  Russia  from  the 
Allies  was  considered  and  it  was  in  the  course  of 
these  discussions  which  Captain  Rustenberg  at- 
tended that  he  heard  mentioned  for  the  first  time 
the  name  of  Lenine  as  a  man  capable  at  a  given 
moment  and  under  certain  circumstances  of  becom- 
ing a  powerful  asset  to  the  German  game.  With 
his  name  was  that  of  another,  of  whom  the  captain 
had  not  heard  before,  that  of  Leon  Trotzky.  The 
latter  was  said  to  be  in  America,  and  it  was  related 
further  that  for  a  long  time  he  had  helped  to 
strengthen  the  feelings  of  animosity  which  the  ex- 

112 


THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  EASTERN  PRUSSIA 

treme  socialistic  parties  everywhere  entertained 
for  the  Russian  reigning  family  and  had  preached 
revolt  against  the  Russian  government.  Trotzky 
was  a  German  subject  —  his  real  name  was  Braun- 
stein  —  and  he  had  been  sent  to  Russia  for  the 
first  time  in  1905  during  the  first  rebellion  which 
collapsed  under  the  energetic  action  of  the  military 
and  civil  authorities  in  the  Empire  of  the  Czar. 
Arrested  for  extreme  anarchist  propaganda,  he 
had  been  sentenced  to  exile  in  Siberia,  but  he  man- 
aged to  escape,  aided,  this  was  openly  acknowl- 
edged by  the  "  Professor,"  by  money  sent  to  him 
from  Berlin  and  which  reached  him  in  a  mysterious 
manner  never  revealed  to  any  one.  Since  that 
time  he  had  been  living  in  Germany,  where  he  had 
edited  a  small  newspaper  of  advanced  opinions, 
but  he  had  remained  in  close  touch  with  Russian 
anarchist  circles.  When  war  broke  out,  it  had 
been  considered  advisable  to  expel  Trotzky  from 
Berlin  so  that  no  one  should  have  the  idea  that  he 
was  in  the  employ  of  the  Prussian  Intelligence 
Department  and  attached  to  the  Civil  Service. 
He  had  gone  to  Paris,  where  the  authorities  had 
become  suspicious  and  asked  him  to  make  himself 
scarce.  So  he  moved  to  Spain,  where  he  was  also 
considered  too  undesirable  to  remain.  Then  he 
went  to  Switzerland,  and  his  steps  finally  led  him 

113 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

to  the  United  States,  where  he  was  awaiting  a  call 
to  return  to  Russia  and  resume  his  former  activi- 
ties. Of  course  all  this  constituted  a  splendid 
record,  and  it  was  not  surprising  that  its  owner  was 
looked  upon  with  interest  by  his  chiefs.  Still  it 
was  not  thought  at  that  time  that  his  activities 
would  ever  justify  the  hopes  that  were  centered  on 
him  and  Captain  Rustenberg  ventured  to  say  so. 
His  words  did  not  seem  to  meet  with  the  approval 
of  either  the  "  Professor  "  or  of  Colonel  X.,  for 
they  both  snubbed  him  and  told  him  that  he  was 
talking  about  something  he  did  not  know. 

These  conferences  resulted  in  secret  service 
agents  being  dispatched  to  Switzerland,  France 
and  England,  where  they  were  to  try  and  get  Into 
close  and  intimate  relations  with  all  the  exiled  Rus- 
sian anarchists  living  abroad  and  to  induce  them 
to  enter  Into  a  phase  of  activity  which  of  late  had 
been  abandoned.  Large  sums  were  to  be  put  at 
their  disposal  to  permit  them  to  foment  strikes  and 
discontent  In  all  the  factories  and  among  all  the 
munition  workers  in  Russia.  They  were  to  be  as- 
sured that  every  facility  in  the  way  of  passports 
and  spurious  documents  was  to  be  given  them  to 
enable  them  to  return  to  Petrograd  without  their 
identity  being  suspected  by  the  Russian  authori- 
ties. 

114 


THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  EASTERN  PRUSSIA 

It  was  decided  at  the  same  time  to  send  other 
agents  to  the  Russian  capital  to  enter  into  close 
relations  with  several  leading  newspaper  men 
capable  of  starting  a  peace  drive  which  would  ex- 
ercise an  influence  on  public  opinion.  The  chiefs 
of  the  Intelligence  Department  believed  that  if  the 
bugbear  of  revolution  was  exhibited  in  its  naked 
ugliness  before  the  eyes  of  the  Czar  Nicholas  II, 
he  would  hasten  to  conclude  peace  so  as  to  save  the 
throne  threatened  by  anarchy. 

By  this  time  Germany  was  completely  victorious 
in  Eastern  Prussia,  and  the  Germans  were  slowly 
advancing  on  Warsaw.  On  the  other  hand  Ger- 
many's ally  Austria  was  in  a  bad  plight  and  exceed- 
ingly sorry  for  herself.  Lemberg  and  almost  the 
whole  of  Galicia  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Russian  troops  and  even  the  stronghold  of 
Przemysl,  which  had  been  believed  impregnable, 
had  capitulated  after  a  siege  of  a  few  weeks.  The 
Grand  Duke  Nicholas  was  said  to  have  declared 
that  the  spring  would  see  him  before  the  walls  of 
Vienna  and  a  certain  amount  of  panic  prevailed  in 
the  Austrian  capital.  The  German  Staff  felt  that 
the  best  way  to  break  the  moral  backbone  of  Rus- 
sia was  to  launch  a  drive  against  the  Czar's  armies 
in  Galicia  strong  enough  and  powerful  enough  to 
compel  them  to   evacuate  the   country.     It  was 

115 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

hoped  that  after  that  the  Russian  government 
would  Hsten  to  reason,  accept  the  hand  stretched  to 
it  and  a  peace  which  would  let  it  off  easily,  compar- 
atively speaking  of  course. 

At  that  time  Germany  did  not  want  to  see  the 
Czar  overthrown.  On  the  contrary  one  of  the 
ideas  lurking  in  the  background  was  the  establish- 
ment of  a  close  union  with  Russia  which  would  put 
at  Germany's  disposal  all  her  vast  resources  in 
raw  materials  which,  after  all,  were  the  aim  for 
which  the  Central  Empires  had  been  fighting  ever 
since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  A  defensive  and 
offensive  treaty  with  Russia  would  have  given 
Germany  inestimable  advantages  and  allowed  her 
to  dictate  her  own  terms  to  France  and  England 
and  compel  the  acceptance  of  any  conditions  it 
might  please  the  enemy  to  impose. 

This  plan  of  making  Russia  the  humble  servant 
of  Germany  was  the  basis  of  the  conduct  of  the 
whole  campaign  from  the  first  day.  It  was, 
naturally  enough,  modified  according  to  the  course 
of  events,  but  the  main  idea  never  changed.  At 
first  it  was  hoped  to  bring  it  into  execution  with 
the  help  of  the  Czar;  after  he  was  overturned  it 
was  endeavored  to  get  the  Revolutionary  govern- 
ment to  accept  it;  when  that  failed,  it  was  finally 
decided  to  have  recourse  to  the  ever  powerful  argu- 

ii6 


THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  EASTERN  PRUSSIA 

ment  of  bribery,  which  is  generally  so  successful  in 
Russia.  Then  it  was  that  the  Bolshevik  move- 
ment was  engineered,  paid  for  with  German 
money,  and  that  the  Bolshevik  government,  headed 
by  Trotzky  and  Lenine,  seized  the  country  which  it 
was  to  betray  and  lead  to  destruction  with  such 
rapidity.  They  could  never  have  become  the  mas- 
ters had  it  not  been  for  the  encouragement,  or 
rather  the  help,  they  received  from  the  Prussian 
General  Staff  and  the  Prussian  Intelligence  Depart- 
ment. They  alone  were  responsible  for  all  the 
disasters  that  befell  unfortunate,  misguided  Russia. 


117 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   KAISER   GOES   TO   VIENNA 

The  people  of  Vienna,  as  has  been  said,  were 
not  quite  so  satisfied  as  the  General  Staff  would 
have  liked  them  to  be  in  regard  to  the  develop- 
ments of  the  war.  Galicia  had  always  been  a  pet 
possession  of  the  Hapsburgs  and  it  was  painful  for 
old  Francis  Joseph  to  see  it  in  the  hands  of  a  hated 
invader.  The  aged  sovereign  had  never  forgiven 
Russia  for  the  service  which  she  had  rendered  him 
when  the  troops  of  the  Czar  Nicholas  I  came  to  his 
rescue  during  the  Hungarian  Rebellion  in  the  first 
years  of  his  reign.  Like  all  mean  souls  to  whom 
it  is  impossible  to  bear  the  burden  of  gratitude,  he 
had  disliked  the  Romanoffs  and  their  country  ever 
since.  When  the  war  started,  Francis  Joseph  had 
been  told,  and  indeed  had  believed,  that  it  would 
be  a  sort  of  walkover  during  which  both  the 
Muscovite  and  the  French  armies  would  flee  in 
disorder  and  panic  before  his  advancing  soldiers 
backed  by  the  troops  of  his  powerful  ally,  Ger- 

1x8 


THE  KAISER  GOES  TO  VIENNA 

many.  Now  he  saw  these  bright  dreams  some- 
what shattered,  and  he  found  himself  faced  with 
the  loss  of  one  of  his  favorite  provinces  while 
the  fate  of  another,  Transylvania,  trembled  in 
the  balance.  This  was  rather  more  than  his 
equanimity  could  stand,  and  he  did  not  take  the 
trouble  to  hide  from  his  friend  the  Kaiser  what 
he  thought  about  the  catastrophe  which  had  be- 
fallen him  and  his  people. 

William  II  did  not  like  to  see  Francis  Joseph 
dissatisfied.  The  old  man  was  a  useful  pawn  in 
the  game,  as  the  Kaiser  could  always  put  him 
forward  on  the  occasions  when  he  did  not  want 
to  compromise  himself  by  untimely  utterances. 
The  German  Staff  thought  that  Austria  ought 
momentarily  to  be  left  to  her  fate  and  that  later 
on  would  be  high  time  to  deliver  her  from  the 
Russian  Bear.  But  the  Kaiser  did  not  agree  and 
he  urged  a  quick  advance  against  the  armies 
of  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  so  as  not  to  run  the 
risk,  as  he  put  it  pathetically,  "  of  seeing  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,"  who  just  at  that  time  had 
been  extremely  ill  with  congestion  of  the  lungs, 
"  of  seeing  him  die  with  the  thought  that  Galicia 
had  been  wrested  from  him." 

This  was  nonsense,  because  at  heart  William 
II  troubled  little  about  the  small  and  petty  sor- 

119 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

rows  of  his  aged  ally.  But  he  had  other  reasons 
for  wishing  his  armies  to  strike  a  great  blow  and 
win  new  laurels.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Gen- 
eral Staff  still  held  to  the  opinion  that  a  waiting 
policy  would  in  the  long  run  be  the  more  favorable 
because  it  would  spare  the  lives  of  many  German 
soldiers.  What  they  wanted,  and  especially 
what  both  Hindenburg  and  Mackensen  wanted, 
was  to  try  and  lure  the  Russian  armies  into  a 
trap  like  the  one  into  which  they  had  fallen  at 
Tannenberg  and  so  be  able  to  slay  thousands  of 
men  with  the  least  danger  to  their  own  battalions. 
They  had  a  beautiful  plan  to  bring  about  the 
desired  result,  which  was  to  be  developed  in  the 
passes  of  the  Carpathians  into  which  the  Grand 
Duke  was  unwisely  engaging  his  troops.  But  in 
order  for  this  plan  to  succeed  as  completely  as 
desired,  it  was  necessary  to  wait  until  winter  had 
rendered  the  mountain  roads  impassable.  The 
resolve  of  the  Kaiser  to  hasten  events  brought 
about  a  complete  change  of  tactics  and  the  result 
was  the  triumphant  march  of  Mackensen  through 
Galicia  and  Poland.  This  proved  more  spectacu- 
lar than  at  first  had  been  thought  possible,  for 
its  consequences  were  the  fall  of  Warsaw  and  of 
the  fortresses  guarding  the  Vistula  and  the  en- 
trance into  Russia  itself. 

1 20 


THE  KAISER  GOES  TO  VIENNA 

Before  Mackensen  started  on  this  march,  a 
whole  army  of  secret  agents  and  spies  was  mobil- 
ized, which  overran  Galicia  and  Poland.  These 
spies  were  recruited  among  all  classes  of  society; 
even  high  born  ladies  were  enrolled  among  them. 
Berlin  was  kept  regularly  informed  of  everything 
that  went  on  at  the  Russian  Headquarters  and 
of  every  movement  that  was  attempted  on  the 
Russian  side.  It  became  known  that  the  extreme 
tactlessness  of  Tchinovnik  and  the  Russian  offi- 
cials had  exasperated  the  population  of  Galicia 
which  was  accustomed  to  enjoy  considerable 
liberty  under  the  Austrian  rule.  The  re- 
ligious question  also  embittered  matters,  in- 
asmuch as  the  Orthodox  clergy  started  from 
the  first  days  of  the  Russian  conquest  a  work  of 
propaganda  which  it  conducted  with  an  utter  dis- 
regard for  the  feelings  of  the  people  among  whom 
it  was  practised.  Part  of  the  Ruthenian  inhab- 
itants of  Galicia  are  Orthodox,  and  it  was  among 
them  that  Russia  had  always  found  partisans 
willing  to  work  and,  if  the  truth  be  told,  to  intrigue 
in  her  favor.  In  contrast  to  the  Poles  these 
Ruthenians  had  been  badly  treated  by  Austria 
and  they  thought  the  opportunity  excellent  to  take 
revenge  on  their  former  masters.  In  a  few  short 
weeks  Galicia  became  the  scene  of  a  civil  war 

121 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

superimposed  on  the  war  being  waged  between  the 
two  great  Empires  fighting  for  its  possession.  Of 
course  the  German  Intelligence  Department  soon 
became  aware  of  what  was  going  on  and  made 
its  profit  out  of  the  circumstances.  There  were 
plenty  of  Polish  farmers  and  Jew  traders  who 
were  only  too  willing  to  earn  money  in  its  service 
by  reporting  every  kind  of  information  likely  to  be 
of  use.  Thus  the  German  Staff  knew  long  before 
any  of  the  Allies  even  suspected  it  that  there  was  a 
complete  lack  of  ammunition  in  the  Russian  army 
and  that  on  this  account  it  would  never  be  able  to 
withstand  any  serious  frontal  attack  directed 
against  it.  They  were  also  aware  of  the  lament- 
able state  of  the  Russian  Commissariat  Depart- 
ment and  they  learned  how,  in  order  to  exist,  the 
troops  of  the  Czar  were  almost  compelled  to 
plunder  the  population  of  the  conquered  provinces. 
This  of  course  added  to  the  unpopularity  of  the 
Russian  troops  in  the  invaded  provinces. 

Germany  had  a  whole  squadron  of  Jew  pedlars 
who  went  about  all  over  the  country  with  a  horse 
and  cart  which  they  drove  themselves,  selling 
cheap  wares  and  provisions  of  which  they  always 
seemed  to  have  plenty  and  with  which  Germany 
had  supplied  them.  These  men  always  timid  and 
Standing  in  awe  of  every  Russian  officer  whom 

122 


THE  KAISER  GOES  TO  VIENNA 

they  happened  to  meet  were  in  reality  wonderful 
spies.  They  saw  everything,  noticed  everything, 
and  knew  before  anybody  else,  and  better  than 
anybody  else,  the  exact  condition  of  every  Russian 
regiment  in  regard  to  ammunition  and  its  com- 
missariat necessities.  It  was  partly  due  to  the 
news  which  the  German  StafF  gained  from  these 
spies  that  it  was  able  to  order  several  attacks 
which  under  different  conditions  might  not  have 
proved  so  successful  as  was  the  case.  The  Staff 
knew  to  a  nicety  the  weak  points  in  the  colossal 
Russian  war  machine  and  where  it  could  be  struck 
with  what  one  could  almost  call  impunity. 

All  this  of  course  cost  money,  but  money  was 
no  object  in  the  war  which,  among  other  things, 
changed  completely  the  value  of  every  currency 
in  the  world.  The  campaign  had  to  be  won  and 
the  cost  of  this  victory  became  of  secondary  im- 
portance. There  were  even  people  in  the  Intelli- 
gence Department  who  kept  saying  that  Germany 
was  not  spending  enough,  and  that  in  particular 
it  had  neglected  the  press  in  the  belligerent  coun- 
tries which  ought  to  have  received  far  more  atten- 
tion than  was  the  case.  Later  on  this  was 
changed,  and  the  millions  which  were  spent  in 
France,  the  United  States  and,  last  but  not  least, 
in  Russia,  so  long  as  a  press  existed  in  that  coun- 

123 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

try,  proved  that  this  reproach  often  launched 
against  the  government  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Secret 
Service  —  the  "  Professor  "  among  others  —  was 
not  justified  for  any  appreciable  length  of  time. 

It  was,  of  course,  impossible  in  Galicia  to  try 
any  means  of  propaganda  through  the  medium 
of  newspapers,  for  nothing  except  the  official 
gazette  started  by  the  Russians  was  allowed  to  be 
published.  But  the  thing  was  easier  in  Poland 
due  to  the  fact  that  part  of  it,  including  the  town 
of  Lodz,  was  in  the  possession  of  the  Germans. 
So  it  was  easy  to  smuggle  as  far  as  Warsaw  and 
even  farther  any  amount  of  Polish  and  Russian, 
not  to  mention  German,  fly  leaves  containing  more 
or  less  true,  and  more  or  less  pompous,  accounts 
of  the  great  victories  the  Germans  were  winning. 
Promises  without  number,  which  were  never  in- 
tended to  be  fulfilled,  were  made  to  the  Po- 
lish population.  The  Poles  were  urged  to 
side  with  the  invading  armies  of  Austria  and 
Germany  from  whom  alone  they  could  ex- 
pect and  hope  to  win  back  the  liberty  which 
had  been  lost  for  almost  two  hundred  years. 
The  curious  thing  about  this  anti-Russian  propa- 
ganda was  that  most  of  it  was  conducted  by  honest 
well-meaning  people  who  would  have  been  horri- 
fied if  they  had  thought  for  a  single  moment  that 

124 


THE  KAISER  GOES  TO  VIENNA 

they  were  playing  the  game  of  the  Kaiser  whom 
they  detested.  But  these  people,  among  whom 
could  be  found  many  members  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic clergy  as  well  as  scions  of  the  noblest  Polish 
aristocratic  houses,  never  imagined  that  by  spread- 
ing around  them  items  of  news  surreptitiously 
acquired  through  some  Jew  pedlar  or  other  they 
were  simply  performing  the  secret  will  of  the 
very  men  whom  they  considered  their  enemies. 

Thanks  to  the  stupidity  of  the  Russian  military 
censors  and  of  the  Russian  police,  the  public  never 
heard  anything  that  bore  the  faintest  semblance 
of  truth  in  regard  to  the  whole  course  of  the 
campaign  and  it  was  but  natural  that  it  should 
seek  to  be  informed  about  it  by  every  possible 
means.  The  little  leaflets  printed  In  Lodz  and 
Kalisch  by  order  of  the  German  authorities  were 
perused  with  the  greatest  interest  and  curiosity 
whenever  and  wherever  they  could  be  found. 
Naturally  enough  the  people  formed  their  opinions 
and  ideas  from  the  information  these  leaflets  con- 
tained. 

I  think  that  I  shall  not  surprise  my  readers 
unduly  when  I  say  that  one  of  the  great  reasons 
for  the  undoubted  successes  which  Germany  gained 
during  the  first  half  of  19 15  was  due  to  the 
excellence  of  the  Intelligence  Department,  just  as 

125 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

much  as  to  the  splendid  strategic  combinations  of 
its  Staff.  People  have  wondered  how  Germany 
could  press  forward  on  her  march  to  Vilna  with 
such  alacrity,  and  wild  tales  have  been  spread 
concerning  the  cowardice  of  the  Russian  troops 
who  were  represented  as  disbanding  at  the  mere 
sight  of  the  Prussian  flag.  In  reality  nothing  of 
the  kind  occurred,  and  whenever  the  regiments 
of  the  Czar  retreated  before  the  advancing 
armies  it  was  due  to  the  fact  that  they  had  been 
taken  unawares,  thanks  to  the  treason  of  their 
own  commanders,  an  involuntary  treason,  but  a 
treason  all  the  same,  because  in  war  times  no 
officer  has  the  right  to  tell  any  one  anything  con- 
cerning the  orders  he  has  received.  Unfortu- 
nately this  was  a  thing  which  Russian  officers 
were  too  much  inclined  to  do,  and  because  of  this 
the  Germans  knew  beforehand  all  that  there  was 
to  learn  concerning  the  weak  points  of  their  adver- 
saries and  all  they  lacked  in  order  to  be  able  to 
offer  a  serious  resistance. 

But  while  this  work  of  the  Prussian  Intelli- 
gence Department  was  being  carried  out  with  such 
discretion  and  skill,  the  people  in  Austria  were 
deeply  excited,  thanks  to  reports  that  the  Cossacks 
were  already  in  sight  of  Vienna.  Francis  Joseph 
became  so  alarmed  that  he  was  heard  to  say  that 

126 


.      THE  KAISER  GOES  TO  VIENNA 

perhaps  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if  the  Court  and 
government  were  removed  to  Budapest,  and  he 
wrote  this  to  the  Kaiser.  On  receiving  this  letter 
William  II  at  once  made  up  his  mind  that  there 
was  but  one  thing  to  do  and  that  was  to  start 
immediately  for  the  castle  of  Schonbrunn  and 
try  to  quiet  the  excited  nerves  of  his  aged  ally. 
The  interview  proved  a  memorable  one,  because, 
although  the  Kaiser  did  not  initiate  Francis 
Joseph  into  all  the  details  of  the  various  plans 
conceived  by  the  General  Staff,  he  nevertheless 
restored  the  old  Monarch's  confidence  in  the  fu- 
ture and  the  ultimate  fate  of  the  war.  When 
Francis  Joseph  began  lamenting  the  loss  of  Gali- 
cia,  the  Kaiser  simply  brushed  his  apprehensions 
aside  with  the  remark,  which  the  course  of  events 
was  to  make  a  memorable  one : 

"  Let  them  take  Gahcia.     We  will  never  allow 
them  to  keep  it." 


127 


CHAPTER  XII 

CAPTAIN   RUSTENBERG   GOES   TO   PETROGRAD 
ONCE    MORE 

A  few  days  after  the  Kaiser's  return  from 
Vienna,  Colonel  X.  sent  for  Captain  Rustenberg 
who  found  his  chief  much  worried  about  the  po- 
litical situation.  He  asked  the  captain  to  tell 
him  candidly  whether  he  thought  any  pressure 
could  be  brought  to  bear  on  public  opinion  in 
Russia  concerning  the  necessity  of  concluding 
peace  as  soon  as  possible.  The  experienced  of- 
ficer was  well  aware  that  though  the  German 
army  was  wonderful  and  though  there  was 
scarcely  a  flaw  in  the  perfection  of  the  military 
machine  William  II  was  handling,  yet  the  country 
would  not  be  able  in  the  long  run  to  carry  on 
indefinitely  a  war  that  was  taxing  all  its  resources 
to  more  than  the  utmost.  Moreover,  he  under- 
stood, if  others  did  not,  that  neither  France  nor 
England  would  throw  up  the  game  before  it  had 
been  won.     The  struggle  with  Russia  was  keeping 

128 


PETROGRAD 

an  immense  army  engaged  on  the  eastern  front, 
and  if  it  were  transferred  to  the  west  before  the 
Enghsh  had  succeeded  in  organizing  their  new 
armies,  it  could  make  short  work  of  the  forces 
opposing  the  German  troops.  He  also  realized 
that  as  Germany's  enemies  were  getting  stronger, 
she  herself  on  the  contrary  was  weakening  in  many 
respects.  Therefore  all  that  it  wished  for  was 
the  conclusion  of  a  separate  peace  with  Russia, 
which  would  release  troops  on  one  side  of  Ger- 
many and  put  at  her  disposal  the  food  and  raw 
materials  which  were  becoming  so  scarce  through- 
out the  country. 

Colonel  X.  was  very  indignant  at  the  Foreign 
Office  which  he  characterized  as  a  nest  of  "  inca- 
pacities," and  he  protested  especially  against  the 
light  heartedness  with  which  several  of  Ger- 
many's representatives  abroad  had  viewed  the 
general  political  situation  of  Europe  before,  and 
immediately  after,  the  beginning  of  the  war.  He 
despised,  and  made  no  secret  of  the  fact,  the 
Chancellor  von  Bethmann-Hollweg,  whom  he 
called  an  empire  destroyer  and  whom  he  accused 
of  behaving  like  an  ass  during  the  entire  crisis. 
It  must  be  observed  that  in  general  a  state  of 
outspoken  hostility  existed  between  the  German 
Staff  and  the  Foreign  Office  from  the  first  days 

129 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

of  the  war.  The  military  leaders  reproached  the 
diplomats  with  a  complete  Ignorance  of  the  state 
of  public  opinion  in  the  countries  to  which  they 
were  accredited;  while  the  diplomats  declared  all 
along  that  it  would  have  been  possible  to  avoid 
war  if  the  Junkers  had  not  pressed  It  with  such 
force  and  energy  that  there  was  nothing  left  to 
do  but  accept  it  with  all  Its  consequences. 

But  In  the  balmy  spring  days  of  the  year  19 15, 
while  the  whole  of  Germany  was  rejoicing  at  the 
fall  of  Warsaw  and  the  long  string  of  victories 
that  accompanied  it,  the  Staff  and  the  Secret  Serv- 
ice were  giving  their  whole  time  to  the  best  means 
of  securing  peace  with  Russia.  They  yearned 
for  this  with  all  their  hearts  for  the  Intelligence 
Department  told  them  that  this  was  the  only  means 
to  save  Germany  from  a  crushing  disaster,  the 
probability  of  which  was  Increasing  with  every 
passing  day. 

Captain  Rustenberg  had  always  been  more  or 
less  In  possession  of  the  full  confidence  of  his 
chiefs,  and  he  saw  quickly  that  Colonel  X.  also 
considered  him  worthy  of  his  own.  The  captain 
thought  It  advisable,  therefore,  to  ask  the  colonel 
point  blank  what  It  was  he  wanted  of  him  at  this 
juncture,  the  Importance  of  which  they  both 
appreciated. 

130 


PETROGRAD 

Colonel  X.  reflected  for  some  minutes  and  then 
said,  looking  at  the  captain  as  if  he  wished  to 
read  his  thoughts : 

"  I  would  like  you  to  go  to  Petrograd  once 
more,  interview  our  friends  there,  and  then  report 
to  me  everything  that  you  have  the  opportunity 
to  observe  during  your  stay  which  ought  not  to 
be  a  lengthy  one  in  any  case.  But  I  will  not  hide 
from  you  that  this  journey  will  be  attended  by 
considerable  danger  and  that,  if  you  are  discov- 
ered, we  shall  most  certainly  disavow  you." 

"  I  am  not  afraid,"  answered  the  captain.  "  I 
am  quite  ready  to  start  whenever  you  want  me 
to.  But  I  do  not  suppose  that  it  is  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  having  me  feel  the  pulse  of  Russian 
public  opinion  that  you  are  sending  me  to  Petro- 
grad." 

"  No,  it  is  not  for  that  purpose  alone  that  we 
want  you  to  go  there,"  replied  the  colonel. 
"  The  real  object  of  your  journey  will  be  to  get 
in  touch  with  public  men  and  journalists  whose 
names  will  be  given  to  you,  and  to  try  and  ascer- 
tain the  amount  of  cash  they  will  require  to  start 
a  pacifist  campaign." 

"  That  will  not  be  so  very  difficult,"  was  the 
reply.  "  But  may  I  ask  you  what  newspapers 
you  would  like  to  win  over  to  our  side?  " 

131 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

The  colonel  thought  for  a  while. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  that  would  have  to  be  left 
more  or  less  to  your  discretion.  We  could  not 
hope  to  get  the  Nowoie  Wremia  at  present,  though 
in  the  case  of  a  revolution,  it  would  be  the  first 
to  turn  against  its  former  masters.  But  you  will 
find  at  the  Nowoie  Wremia  a  man  who  has  been 
working  for  us  for  a  long  time  and  who  will  be 
an  excellent  guide  for  you,  Manassevitch-Maniu- 
loff.  He  is  about  the  biggest  and  greatest  black- 
guard the  world  has  ever  known,  but  he  is  clever 
and  wonderfully  well  informed,  and  ...  he  is 
one  of  the  friends  of  Rasputin,  the  Empress's 
favorite,  and,  if  we  can  believe  all  we  hear,  the 
real  Sovereign  of  Russia.  The  Czar  does  abso- 
lutely all  he  tells  him  to.  I  should  recommend 
you  to  see  Manassevitch-Maniuloff  as  often  as 
you  can." 

"  Will  you  allow  me  to  put  in  a  word, 
Colonel?  "  asked  the  captain. 

"Yes,  what  is  it?" 

"  Well,  if  you  will  not  mind  my  saying  so,  I 
think  I  had  better  avoid  seeing  Manassevitch- 
Maniuloff.  I  happen  to  know  something  about 
that  man  whom  I  had  occasion  to  meet  in  Paris 
and  Rome,  and  I  think  the  first  thing  he  would 
doj  if  he  discovered  that  I  was  in  Russia,  would 

132 


PETROGRAD 

be  to  denounce  me  to  the  authorities  and  have 
me  locked  up,  if  not  shot,  as  a  spy." 

The  colonel  looked  up  in  surprise. 

"  Why,  I  thought  our  Minister  in  Stockholm, 
Baron  von  Lucius,  advised  me  .  .  ." 

"  Yes,"  came  the  interruption,  "  he  advised  you 
that  the  said  Maniuloff  was  one  of  the  most  useful 
agents  in  Russia.  But  precisely  for  that  reason, 
I  think  it  would  be  better  if  he  saw  nothing  of 
me  now.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  jalousie  du 
metier,  you  know." 

The  Chief  smiled. 

"  Well,  perhaps  you  are  right,  but  then  there 
are  other  people  who  might  be  useful  to  you  and 
at  the  same  time  not  be  so  .  .  .  dangerous  as 
M.  Maniuloff.  For  instance,  there  is  the  editor 
of  the  Gazette  de  la  Bourse;  he,  of  course,  would 
not  take  money,  but  he  might  be  induced  to  play 
our  game,  if  one  put  before  his  eyes  the  prospect 
of  obtaining  some  political  appointment  after  the 
war,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  position  of  Russian 
Ambassador  in  Berlin." 

Captain  Rustenberg  could  not  help  laughing  at 
this  remark.  He  knew  well  M.  Propper,  the 
owner  and  manager  of  the  newspaper  referred  to, 
and  the  idea  of  the  fat  little  millionaire  of  Polish 
Jew  extraction  promoted  to  the  honor  of  an  Em- 

133 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

bassy  was  to  say  the  least  ridiculous.  The 
colonel,  however,  did  not  seem  to  notice  the  im- 
pression his  words  had  produced,  for  he  went  on: 
*'  There  is  one  paper  which  it  would  be  highly 
advantageous  for  us  to  have  on  our  side.  That 
is  the  Rousskoie  Slowo  of  Moscow.  I  hear  that 
one  of  the  editors,  a  certain  M.  Kalyschkoff, 
would  be  willing  to  act  for  us.  I  suggest,  there- 
fore, that  you  make  it  a  point  to  see  him  and, 
if  possible,  bring  him  over  to  Stockholm  or 
Copenhagen  where  some  of  our  Staff  could  inter- 
view him.  Find  out  the  conditions  under  which 
he  would  act  for  us,  and  try  to  win  his  paper 
over  to  our  opinion  concerning  the  necessity  for 
Russia  to  conclude  a  separate  peace  as  soon  as 
possible.  I  think,  however,  you  had  better  go 
and  discuss  all  these  matters  with  Herr  Director 
Steinwachs  who  will  be  able  to  tell  you  better 
than  I  can  what  it  really  is  M^e  wish  you  to  per- 
form. And,  by  the  way,  let  me  recommend  you 
not  to  be  too  generous  with  money  and  to  get  full 
value  for  every  penny  you  spend.  We  have  al- 
ready been  duped  more  than  once  by  Russians 
whom  we  wanted  to  employ.  They  promised  us 
wonders,  and  after  they  had  been  paid  they  did 
nothing  at  all.  Of  course  money  has  to  be  spent, 
but  it  must  not  be  done  in  a  reckless  manner,  the 

134 


PETROGRAD 

more  so  since  there  is  no  knowing  how  much  will 
be  required  before  we  succeed  in  getting  what  we 
want.  You  shall  have  a  letter  of  credit  on  a  bank 
in  Petrograd,  but  please,  please  take  care  of  it 
and  do  not  overreach  yourself  in  any  way.  And 
now  I  think  you  should  go  and  see  Herr  Stein- 
wachs." 

Captain  Rustenberg  took  leave  of  the  colonel 
and  repaired  to  the  Colonial  Office  where  he  found 
Herr  Steinwachs  at  his  desk.  He  was  in  an 
excellent  temper  and  chatted  away  merrily  on  in- 
different subjects  before  he  touched  on  matters 
of  business.  When  he  took  up  the  question  in 
hand,  it  was  in  a  brisk  tone  of  voice,  which  proved 
that  he  at  least  had  none  of  the  misgivings  which 
worried  Colonel  X. 

"  I  admire  you,  my  dear  Captain,"  he  said, 
"  for  accepting  without  hesitation  the  .  .  .  ahem 
.  .  .  risky  mission  with  which  we  desire  to  entrust 
you.  However  we  shall  do  our  best  to  make  it 
as  little  perilous  for  you  as  possible  Here  is  a 
passport  establishing  your  identity  as  a  Swiss  sub- 
ject going  to  Russia  on  business.  You  will  note 
that  it  has  all  the  necessary  visas  required  in  the 
present  troubled  times.  When  you  arrive  at 
Petrograd,  you  must  not  fail  to  report  yourself 
to  the  Swiss  Legation  there  so  as  to  establish 

135 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

your  right  to  be  in  Russia.  You  will  travel,  of 
course,  via  Sweden,  and  I  warn  you  that  when  you 
cross  our  frontier  at  Sassnitz,  you  will  be  thor- 
oughly searched  by  our  military  authorities  about 
whom  you  must  complain  loudly  afterwards. 
This  is  essential  in  view  of  the  numerous  English 
and  French  spies  who  somehow  elude  our  vigilance 
and  watch  all  people  going  to  Russia  in  the  hope 
of  finding  our  agents  among  them.  You  will  stay 
in  Stockholm  only  two  days  to  see  our  Minister 
who  will  be  able  to  give  you  precious  information 
as  to  what  is  now  going  on  in  the  Russian  capital. 
But  you  must  be  very  careful,  because  Sweden 
simply  swarms  with  French  and  English  spies 
who  would  be  sure  to  denounce  you  if  they  had 
reason  to  suspect  you  were  anything  but  the  peace- 
ful Swiss  citizen  you  are  supposed  to  represent. 

"  You  will,  of  course,  meet  some  of  our  men 
in  Petrograd,  and  it  will  be  left  to  your  discretion 
whom  you  think  it  best  to  see.  There  is  one 
man,  however,  whom  I  would  advise  you  to  avoid, 
though  he  is  one  of  our  best  agents,  Manassevitch- 
Maniuloff,  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Nowoie 
Wremia,  whose  name  is,  I  suppose,  familiar  to 
you." 

The  captain  could  not  help  smiling  and  informed 
Herr  Steinwachs  of  the  details  of  the  conversation 

136 


PETROGRAD 

with  Colonel  X.  in  regard  to  the  same  man  he  was 
advising  him  to  avoid.  Steinwachs  laughed  in 
his  turn. 

'*  It  seems  that  great  minds  think  alike,"  he 
said,  and  then  proceeded  to  give  the  captain  a  few 
short  instructions,  after  which  he  handed  him  his 
passport  and  a  letter  of  credit  on  the  International 
Bank  in  Petrograd  together  with  a  sum  of  money 
for  his  immediate  needs.  As  he  did  this  he  added 
significantly: 

"  Don't  spare  money.  We  have  plenty  to 
spend  and  one  cannot  be  miserly  on  a  trip  like 
the  one  you  are  undertaking.  Ah,  I  had  almost 
forgotten,  here  is  a  letter  you  must  read  in  the 
train  on  your  way  to  Sassnitz  and  which  please 
destroy  immediately  after  you  have  read  it." 

Captain  Rustenberg  left  with  the  impression 
that  if  the  civilian  and  military  chiefs  of  the 
department  agreed  in  most  things,  it  was  not  in 
regard  to  money. 


137 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Germany's  friends  in  petrograd  —  mme. 
soumentay 

Captain  Rustenberg  found  Petrograd  consider- 
ably changed  since  his  visit  just  before  the  war. 
For  one  thing  the  boastful  tone  of  the  Russian 
pubHc  which  had  been  so  aggressive  in  July,  19 14, 
had  entirely  disappeared.  The  people  looked 
anxious,  worried  and  dissatisfied.  The  one  topic 
of  conversation  was  the  incapacity  of  the  govern- 
ment which  was  made  directly  responsible  for  the 
military  disasters.  The  Grand  Duke  had  strong 
partisans,  especially  among  the  officers,  and  of 
course  he  was  popular  among  the  Allied  diplomats 
who  but  for  the  confidence  they  had  in  him  would 
have  been  even  more  gloomy  than  they  already 
were.  The  Emperor  and  Empress  seemed  to  be 
disliked  everywhere  and  by  everybody.  The  Em- 
press was  especially  disliked  and  she  was  called 
the  '*  German  "  just  as  Marie  Antoinette  before 
the  French  Revolution  was  called  the  "  Austrian." 
The   disorder   in   administrative    circles   seemed 

138 


GERMANY'S  FRIENDS 

complete.  No  one  appeared  to  know  what  to  do 
or  what  to  begin.  The  neglect  which  had  brought 
about  the  lack  of  ammunition,  the  principal,  or 
rather  the  only,  cause  of  the  collapse  of  the  Rus- 
sian army  was  talked  about  as  the  greatest  scandal 
that  had  ever  occurred  even  in  this  land  of  cor- 
ruption and  bribery  that  owned  Nicholas  II  for 
its  Sovereign  Lord.  No  one  now  believed  that 
the  war  could  be  won  on  the  eastern  front,  and 
the  hopes  of  the  chauvinists  were  centered  on 
France  and  England  who  were  to  save  the  situa- 
tion. But  on  the  other  hand,  neither  England 
nor  France,  especially  the  former,  was  liked  by 
the  man  on  the  street  who  objected  to  the  control 
these  two  countries  were  beginning  to  assume  over 
the  different  departments  of  the  War  Office  as 
well  as  in  the  General  Staff.  Altogether  things 
were  changed  in  Russia.  Even  in  public  places 
such  as  restaurants  and  theaters  one  could  hear 
people  talking  about  the  necessity  of  concluding 
peace  as  soon  as  possible  in  order  to  prevent  the 
catastrophe  which  was  in  the  air  and  which  was 
felt  to  be  inevitable. 

A  peculiar  thing  in  the  whole  situation  was  the 
excellent  spirit  of  the  army,  at  least  among  those 
soldiers  back  in  Petrograd  on  a  furlough  from 
the  front.     Discouragement  had  not  penetrated 

139 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

there  and  the  despondency  of  the  officers  was 
not  shared  by  the  men  who,  on  the  contrary,  re- 
proached their  commanders  for  their  lack  of  cou- 
rage and  initiative.  The  soldiers  declared  them- 
selves ready  to  fight  the  hated  Germans  with  the 
stocks  of  their  rifles  or  their  hands,  if  need  be, 
and  they  refused  to  believe  that  they  would  not 
succeed  in  reducing  their  enemies  even  with  these 
primitive  weapons.  Later  on,  and  especially  after 
the  Carpathian  campaign,  this  spirit  underwent  a 
complete  transformation.  It  was  the  turn  of  the 
soldier  to  be  discouraged,  while  the  officers  showed 
themselves  far  more  plucky  than  during  the  dark 
days  when  Russia  was  startled  by  hearing  that 
in  a  single  week  Warsaw  as  well  as  all  the  fort- 
resses on  the  Vistula  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy. 

V^hile  I  am  touching  on  this  subject,  it  may  be 
said  at  once,  that  the  reason  these  strongholds 
were  taken  with  such  ease  was  that  the  Ger- 
mans had  friends  among  the  authorities  in  charge 
of  them  who  made  but  a  formal  resistance  when 
they  were  besieged.  Moreover,  the  German 
Staff  had  obtained  complete  plans  of  these  forti- 
fications from  the  German  engineers  who  had 
been  chosen  to  contruct  them,  thanks  to  the  liberal 
sums  which  had  been  paid  to  several  important 

140 


'■^*~      "'«a»     »",*    * 


iajC^.v 


«•  *J^(*',^^ 


v"*?- 


e  «»  * 
•> 


.>'iX  i 


'•^^t^l^    c-^     \ 


GERMANY'S  FRIENDS 

officials  in  the  Russian  War  Office  to  secure  their 
choice.  These  gentlemen  did  what  the  Prussian 
Intelligence  Department  required  of  them  to  per- 
fection. They  devoted  themselves  to  the  con- 
struction of  defense  works  which  appeared  to  the 
layman  quite  wonderful  but  which  were  in  reality 
absolutely  unable  to  withstand  any  serious  pres- 
sure put  on  them. 

The  state  of  absolute  disorganization  of  the 
Russian  war  machine  surpassed  any  expectations 
Captain  Rustenberg  had  entertained  on  the  sub- 
ject. What  struck  him  especially  was  that  few 
persons  in  Petrograd  gave  any  attention  to  the 
military  question  and  that  all  their  interest  seemed 
to  be  concentrated  on  politics.  The  war,  sad  as 
it  was,  and  disastrous  as  it  had  proved,  did  not 
seem  to  affect  public  opinion  at  all.  It  was 
accepted  as  a  necessary  evil  out  of  which  good 
might  ensue,  and,  as  a  rule,  there  was  a  general 
admiration  for  German  efficiency.  Of  course 
this  was  not  said  openly,  but  Captain  Rustenberg 
fancied  from  observations  he  was  able  to  make 
that  there  were  more  people  who  desired  to  see 
the  war  end  with  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  of 
alliance  with  Germany  than  he  could  ever  have 
hoped  for  at  such  a  time  in  Russia. 

The  captain  went  to  see  all  his  old  acquaint- 
141 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

anccs.  At  the  International  Bank,  he  was  asked 
quantities  of  questions  about  the  state  of  opinion 
in  neutral  countries,  and  the  directors  of  the  bank 
all  seemed  to  want  the  war  to  come  to  an  end, 
no  matter  how  or  through  what  circumstances. 
Most  of  the  shares  of  this  bank  were  in  German 
hands,  as  the  house  of  Mendelssohn  and  Com- 
pany and  the  Disconto  Gesellschaft  of  Berlin 
had  succeeded  in  buying  them  previous  to  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war.  Naturally  enough  this 
circumstance  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the 
opinions  of  the  men  in  charge  of  this  financial 
establishment.  People  believed  that  Captain  Rus- 
tcnberg  was  a  peaceful  Swiss  citizen  who  had  come 
to  Russia  to  seek  business  and  try  to  capture  for 
his  firm  some  of  the  trade  which  had  been  in 
German  hands  before  the  war.  It  seems  that 
he  played  his  part  well  for  no  one  suspected 
him,  and  he  was  able  to  tell  the  German  agents 
whom  he  met  later  on  that  he  believed  that  noth- 
ing in  his  conduct  or  demeanor  had  given  rise 
to  suspicion. 

Captain  Rustcnbcrg  made  it  a  point  to  interview 
several  of  the  German  Secret  Service  representa- 
tives who  had  managed  to  stay  in  Petrograd  in 
spite  of  the  severe  application  of  the  law  which 
drove  away  not  only  Germans  but  those  in  sym- 

142 


GERMANY'S  FRIENDS 

pathy  with  them.  One  evening  he  was  taken  to 
a  party  given  at  the  house  of  a  journahst  belong- 
ing to  the  extreme  radical  groups,  and  there  to 
his  surprise  and  dismay,  because  he  would  have 
liked  to  avoid  him,  he  saw  Kerensky  again.  The 
young  demagogue  must  have  recognized  the  cap- 
tain perfectly,  but  he  made  no  sign  that  this  was 
the  case,  and  on  the  contrary  tried  to  draw  him 
into  a  conversation  in  which  he  endeavored  to 
find  out  whether  a  change  of  government  in  Russia 
would  be  viewed  with  pleasure  or  disapproval  in 
Germany.  Of  course  the  captain  gave  him  no 
reply  and  merely  said  that  being  a  foreigner  and 
having  spent  only  a  couple  of  days  in  Berlin  on 
his  way  to  Petrograd  he  had  not  had  time  to  form 
an  opinion  on  this  subject. 

A  day  or  two  after  the  captain  reached  Petro- 
grad he  was  taken  by  one  of  his  friends  to  the 
house  of  a  lady  who  seemed  to  be  wonderfully 
well  informed  as  to  everything  that  went  on  in 
official  circles  in  Russia  and  who  was  also  in  touch 
with  the  extreme  radical  leaders  in  the  Duma. 
Her  name  was  Madame  Soumentay  and  she 
was  supposed  to  be  a  Finn  by  birth  and  marriage 
and  a  rabid  anti-German.  She  received  the  cap- 
tain kindly  and  made  no  secret  of  the  fact  that 
she  knew  perfectly  well  who  he  was  and  why  he 

143 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

had  come  to  Russia  and  that  she  herself  was  in 
the  employ  of  the  same  people  in  whose  service 
he  was  enrolled.  Among  other  things  she  told 
him  that  she  did  not  at  all  share  the  opinion  of 
those  who  thought  that  a  separate  peace  was 
about  to  be  made  between  Germany  and  Russia. 
She  assured  him  that,  on  the  contrary,  so  long 
as  the  Czar  remained  on  the  throne  the  thing  was 
unlikely  in  spite  of  the  strong  pressure  brought  to 
bear  on  him  by  the  Empress  and  the  latter's  par- 
ticular friends  and  favorites.  She  declared  that 
Nicholas  II  was  such  a  coward  that  he  could  even 
be  induced  to  betray  his  friends  out  of  reasons 
of  personal  safety  and  that  he  lacked  the  initiative 
to  make  any  decision  of  importance  of  his  own 
accord.  But,  she  added,  the  fact  that  he  had 
been  persuaded  to  assume  supreme  command  of 
the  army  was  of  more  advantage  to  Germany 
than  the  latter  imagined.  It  would  put  the 
crowning  seal  on  the  Czar's  unpopularity  and 
make  a  revolution  far  easier  than  would  have 
been  the  case  had  he  remained  at  Tzarskoie  Selo 
and  been  able  to  shift  on  to  others  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  disasters  about  to  follow.  The  cap- 
tain and  Mme.  Soumentay  talked  about  the  trial 
of  poor  Colonel  Massojedoff  who  had  been  hung 
a   few  weeks  before.     She  assured  the  captain 

144 


GERMANY'S  FRIENDS 

that  all  the  rumors  current  about  town  concern- 
ing the  complicity  of  the  War  Minister  General 
Soukhomlinoff  and  his  consort  with  Massojedoff 
had  been  started  by  friends  of  the  Grand  Duke 
Nicholas  who  wanted  to  place  the  responsibility 
for  the  disasters  that  had  taken  place  on  some 
one  other  than  their  beloved  chief.  She  need 
not  have  told  the  captain  this  for  he  knew  the 
circumstances  far  better  than  she  could,  but  it  was 
interesting  nevertheless  to  hear  all  these  details. 
Mme.  Soumentay  was  a  clever  and  well  informed 
woman  and  she  assured  the  captain  that  the  best 
friends  of  Germany  in  the  case  of  an  emergency 
would  be  the  extreme  radicals  and  anarchists. 
They  were  so  desirous  of  getting  into  power  and 
being  allowed  a  free  hand  in  the  execution  of  the 
program  they  had  mapped  out  for  themselves  — 
the  principal  item  was  the  destruction  of  private 
property  and  a  general  plundering  of  the  richer 
class  —  that  they  would  be  ready  to  conclude  an 
alliance  with  the  first  person  capable  of  helping 
them  to  bring  it  into  execution  regardless  of  cir- 
cumstances. "  You  know,"  she  added  signifi- 
cantly, "  that  they  are  bound  to  come  into  power 
as  soon  as  the  Romanoffs  are  overthrown," 

The  captain  was  not  quite  so  sure  about  this, 
so  he  changed  the  conversation  and  asked  Mme. 

145 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

Soumentay  to  tell  him  who  the  journalists  were 
who  were  most  likely  to  accept  the  mission  of 
preaching  cleverly  the  necessity  of  putting  an  end 
to  the  war.  She  mentioned  a  few  names  and 
advised  him  to  get  an  introduction  to  M.  Propper, 
the  owner  of  the  Gazette  de  la  Bourse,  and  to 
try  to  ascertain  his  views  on  the  matter.  When 
he  mentioned  the  Rousskoie  Slowo,  she  at  once 
told  him  that  she  considered  that  there  was  noth- 
ing to  be  done  in  that  quarter  and  this  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  one  of  Germany's  agents 
in  Petrograd  had  assured  him  that  he  would  be 
likely  to  find  some  cooperation  on  the  part  of  that 
particular  paper;  that  one  of  its  editors,  whose 
name,  however,  he  had  not  disclosed,  was  quite 
ready  to  lend  Germany  the  use  of  his  pen  and 
of  his  eloquence,  if  he  had  any  to  spare,  against 
a  handsome  consideration. 

Captain  Rustenberg  did  not  know  what  to  make 
out  of  all  this  information,  but  as  he  had  always 
made  it  a  rule  to  see  things  for  himself,  he  got 
a  friend  to  take  him  to  M.  Propper's  house. 
The  journalist  received  them  with  effusion,  saying 
that  any  foreigner  coming  to  Petrograd  was  wel- 
come to  his  hospitality,  and  placed  himself  entirely 
at  the  captain's  disposal  in  regard  to  any  informa- 
tion he  might  want  to  obtain  concerning  the  com- 

146 


GERMANY'S  FRIENDS 

mercial  business  which  had  brought  him  to  Russia. 
M.  Propper  was  a  funny,  amusing  individual. 
He  called  himself  a  Pole,  and  his  house  was  the 
meeting  place  of  all  the  Poles  in  the  capital.  In 
reality  there  was  a  strong  mixture  of  Hebrew 
blood  in  his  veins,  but  he  was  so  rich  that  people 
had  forgotten  that  fact  and  there  was  nothing 
to  remind  the  world  of  it  except  his  flat  feet  and 
his,  if  not  exactly  crooked,  at  least  very  prominent, 
nose.  He  was  a  power  in  his  way,  thanks  to  the 
influence  wielded  by  his  paper,  and  he  was  per- 
fectly well  aware  of  the  fact.  But  he  never 
boasted  of  it,  and  while  he  was  in  reality  an  oppo- 
nent of  the  Romanoffs  he  declared  himself  their 
staunch  supporter.  He  was  not  precisely  the  man 
described  by  Montaigne  as  ondoyant  et  divers, 
but  he  was  certainly  an  opportunist,  and  so  he 
might  easily  become  one  of  Germany's  friends 
outwardly  as  much  as  he  was  inwardly.  His  am- 
bition was  excessive,  and  after  talking  with  him 
for  a  time  the  captain  understood  easily  why  his 
Chief  had  told  him  that  it  would  be  a  good  plan 
to  suggest  to  M.  Propper  that  he  would  make  an 
excellent  ambassador.  The  journalist  invited  the 
captain  to  dinner  for  the  next  day  and  promised 
to  try  and  get  a  few  pleasant  people  to  meet  him, 
an  invitation  which  was. accepted  with  alacrity. 

147 


CHAPTER  XIV 

M.    KALYSCHKOFF   GOES   TO   STOCKHOLM 

As  one  may  imagine  the  captain  made  it  a 
point  not  to  be  late  to  dinner  the  next  evening 
and  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  appear  at  the  hos- 
pitable mansion  which  owned  M.  Propper  for 
its  master.  The  captain  was  introduced  to  his 
host's  wife  and  daughter,  and  soon  discovered 
that  the  small  and  informal  party  to  which  he 
had  been  invited  was  a  large  and  pompous  affair 
of  thirty-five  or  forty  people  who  belonged  to 
different  political  parties  and  most  of  whom  were 
interesting  in  their  way.  There  were  members 
of  the  Duma,  which  was  not  sitting  at  the  time, 
a  few  landowners  from  the  Southern  governments, 
four  or  five  exquisitely  dressed  ladies,  one  of 
whom  was  a  celebrated  actress,  and  a  score  of 
journalists  with  whom  the  captain  at  once  tried 
to  establish  a  conversation  in  the  hope  of  hearing 
what  they  thought  about  the  general  situation. 
He  had  expected  to  find  among  them  violent  chau- 

148 


M.  KALYSCHKOFF 

vinists,  but  he  soon  discovered  that  chauvinism 
in  Russia  existed  only  in  the  columns  of  the 
Nowoie  Wrem'ia,  and  that  it  was  conspicuously 
absent  elsewhere.  The  conversation  was  about 
social  and  political  reforms,  and  everyone  seemed 
agreed  that  in  some  respects  it  was  an  excellent 
thing  that  the  Germans  had  beaten  the  Russians, 
because  it  would  compel  the  government  to  grant 
the  reforms  for  which  the  country  clamored  and 
to  which  it  would  never  have  given  its  assent  under 
different  circumstances.  One  man  went  so  far  as 
to  say  that  the  greatest  disaster  which  could  have 
befallen  Russia  would  have  been  a  military  vic- 
tory which  would  only  have  strengthened  the 
hands  of  the  detestable  autocratic  system  under 
which  the  country  writhed  and  plunged  it  back 
into  a  chaos  that  might  have  lasted  for  years  and 
years. 

As  for  the  hatred  of  the  Germans,  at  least 
so  Captain  Rustenberg  was  told,  it  only  existed 
among  the  lower  classes  who  had  been  artificially 
excited  by  an  inspired  press,  but  that  among  the 
Intelligentsia,  as  it  was  called,  and  among  the 
nobility  and  landed  aristocracy,  the  people  were 
but  too  ready  to  accept  any  kind  of  peace,  pro- 
vided it  came  quickly. 

Among  the  guests  was  one  man  who  remained 
149 


THE  FIREBR^^ND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

silent  most  of  the  time,  but  who  seemed  to  be 
listening  carefully  to  everything  that  was  being 
said.  After  dinner  he  asked  to  be  introduced  to 
Captain  Rustenberg  who  found  that  he  was  a 
writer  named  Kalyschkoff  on  the  staff  of  that  same 
Rousskoie  Slowo,  the  importance  of  whose  co- 
operation had  been  pointed  out  to  him  with  such 
emphasis  in  Berlin.  The  captain  at  once  pro- 
ceeded to  draw  the  journalist  out  in  regard  to 
his  opinions  concerning  the  war,  and  found  that 
he  was  far  more  optimistic  than  most  of  the 
other  guests.  Among  other  things  he  said  that 
though  the  loss  of  Poland  and  a  part  of  Lithuania 
was  a  sad  affair,  still  he  did  not  think  it  so  disas- 
trous as  many  thought,  because,  after  all,  auton- 
omy would  have  had  to  be  granted  sooner  or 
later.  Besides,  he  felt  sure  that  Germany  was 
far  too  wise  to  annex  them,  but  would  most  prob- 
ably try  to  make  them  buffer  states  between  Russia 
and  herself,  and  that  there  was  no  reason  why 
Russia  should  not  retain  a  sort  of  protectorate 
over  the  two  provinces.  He  believed  that  in  case 
of  an  eventual  discussion  of  peace  terms,  Ger- 
many would  show  herself  generous  and  M'^ould  not 
insist  on  conditions  likely  to  keep  up  feelings  of 
hatred  against  her  in  Russia. 

"  People  here  forget,"  he  added,  "  that  the  one 
150 


M.  KALYSCHKOFF 

mortal  enemy  of  Germany  is  France,  and  that  in 
order  to  reduce  her  Germany  will  do  all  that 
lies  within  her  power  to  try  and  make  friends  out 
of  the  other  foes  she  is  fighting  to-day.  I  per- 
sonally feel  convinced  that  in  the  space  of  a  few 
years,  we  Russians  will  again  be  close  friends  with 
Germany.  We  have  too  many  interests  in  com- 
mon for  this  not  to  happen  sooner  or  later,  and 
rather  sooner  than  later.  The  great  thing  would 
be  to  accustom  the  public  to  the  idea,  and  this 
can  only  take  place  through  an  intelligent  press." 
Kalyschkoff  looked  at  the  captain  as  he  said 
this,  and  the  latter  fancied  that  there  was  some- 
thing behind  the  words  which  the  speaker  wished 
him  to  understand.  The  captain,  however,  did 
not  feel  justified  in  accepting  the  discussion  which 
it  seemed  that  M.  Kalyschkoff  wanted  to  provoke 
and  so  he  merely  said  that  of  course  it  was  im- 
possible for  a  foreigner  to  judge  of  such  things, 
especially  for  one  like  himself  who  had  never 
given  his  attention  to  politics.  The  journalist 
again  looked  at  him  with  great  attention  and  re- 
plied that  he  hoped  that  before  the  visitor  left 
Russia  he  would  become  imbued  with  the  general 
affection  for  politics  which  prevailed  in  that  coun- 
try. He  also  hoped  that  he  would  discover  the 
great  attractions  that  politics  presented,  especially 

151 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

in  a  land  standing  on  the  verge  of  the  important 
changes  which  threatened  the  Empire  of  the 
Czars,  which,  as  he  added  significantly,  would 
not  remain  a  monarchy  much  longer. 

"Then  you  believe  in  a  revolution?"  asked 
the  captain. 

"  Certainly  I  do,"  Kalyschkoff  replied.  "  And 
if  Germany  were  wise  she  would  prepare  herself 
for  that  day  so  as  to  be  ready  on  the  field  when 
it  dawns.  Without  a  revolution  peace,  in  spite 
of  the  strong  desire  for  it  which  prevails  every- 
where, cannot  become  an  accomplished  fact. 
Peace  will  be  imposed  finally  by  the  working 
classes  on  the  government  of  the  day,  whatever 
that  government  may  be." 

M.  Propper  interrupted  this  conversation  by 
coming  up  to  inquire  whether  his  guests  would  not 
have  another  glass  of  rare  Tokay  on  which  he 
prided  himself,  but,  as  Captain  Rustenberg  went 
home,  he  could  not  help  thinking  about  this  talk 
and  wondering  what  it  meant.  It  seemed  impos- 
sible that  M.  Kalyschkoff  had  discovered  his 
identity  unless  his  attention  had  been  drawn  to 
it,  and,  if  such  had  been  the  case,  the  sooner 
the  captain  made  himself  scarce  the  better  it 
would  be.     At  that  time  Petrograd  was  swarming 

152 


M.  KALYSCHKOFF 

with  spies,  and  a  German  agent  would  have  fared 
badly  at  their  hands. 

As  the  captain  opened  the  door  of  his  room  in 
the  hotel,  he  was  wondering  whether  he  should 
not  pack  his  trunk  and  his  nerves  were  so  un- 
strung that  he  started  violently  when  he  found 
a  man  in  his  room  sitting  at  the  writing  table 
apparently  absorbed  in  reading  some  papers  he 
had  spread  out  before  him.  The  captain's  fright 
was  soon  allayed  when  he  discovered  in  this  un- 
expected visitor  one  of  Germany's  most  trusted 
agents  from  whom  he  had  obtained  some  of  the 
most  important  information  he  had  been  able  to 
gather  since  his  arrival  in  Petrograd.  The 
agent's  first  question  startled  the  captain  almost 
as  much  as  his  presence  in  possession  of  his  apart- 
ment had  done. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  have  you  seen  Kalyschkoff  ?  " 

"  How  did  you  know  I  was  to  see  him?  " 

"  Oh,   we  know  these   things,"    answered  the 

agent.     "  The  fact  is  that  all  along  I  have  been 

wanting  you  to  meet  this  man.     Headquarters  told 

me  particularly   to  bring  you   together." 

"  Oh,  is  that  so?  Well,  now  that  I  have  seen 
him,  can  you  tell  me  what  it  is  that  I  am  to  do 
with  him?" 

153 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

"  It  is  very  simple.  Kalyschkoff  has  already 
been  approached  by  a  friend  of  Baron  Lucius, 
our  Minister  in  Stockholm,  with  whom  he  was 
on  rather  intimate  terms  while  the  latter  was  first 
secretary  here,  and  he  has  been  asked  whether 
he  would  not  lend  us  the  help  of  his  pen  and  his 
talent.  You  know  he  is 'one  of  the  most  brilliant 
essay  writers  in  Petrograd.  Kalyschkoff  received 
these  overtures  very  well  and  so  he  was  given  a 
hint  to  try  and  cultivate  you  if  he  came  across  you. 
I  would  like  to  know  whether  he  has  done  so  or 
not,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  I  have  been 
v/aiting  for  you  for  the  past  hour  or  so." 

To  tell  the  truth  Captain  Rustenberg  found 
this  conversation  exceedingly  unpleasant.  He 
had  the  feeling  that  he  had  been  fooled  and 
thought  himself  badly  used  because  his  chiefs  had 
not  taken  the  trouble  to  initiate  him  into  all  the 
details  of  their  multifarious  intrigues  in  Russia. 
He  did  not  like  to  find  himself  in  a  certain  sense 
suspected  and  not  left  at  liberty  to  do  what  he 
liked  but  compelled  to  follow  the  lead  of  an- 
other agent  whom  he  had  never  suspected  of  being 
so  far  in  possession  of  the  confidence  of  Herr 
Steinwachs  and  the  "  Professor."  It  was  obvious 
that  it  must  have  been  one  of  the  two  who  had 

154 


M.  KALYSCHKOFF 

given  the  agent  the  instructions  on  which  he  was 
acting. 

*' What  do  you  advise  me  to  do?"  Captain 
Rustenberg  asked  at  length.  "  Remember  that 
I  know  nothing  concerning  any  use  to  which  Kaly- 
schkoff  could  be  put." 

The  agent  then  informed  the  captain  that  the 
idea  prevailed  among  the  people  in  charge  of 
the  German  interests  in  Petrograd  to  try  and  get 
control  of  some  great  newspaper  in  Russia;  that 
the  Rousskoie  Slowo  was  considered  the  most  in- 
fluential, and  M.  Kalyschkoff  was  the  man  who 
could  be  induced  to  try  and  swerve  the  policy 
of  that  organ  towards  the  idea  of  the  conclusion 
of  a  separate  peace  between  Russia  and  Germany. 

All  this  seemed  good,  but  the  captain  had  doubts 
as  to  the  ability  of  the  above  mentioned  journalist 
to  achieve  such  a  result.  But  his  visitor  would 
not  listen  to  any  of  the  arguments  he  put  forward 
and  assured  the  captain  that  he  was  mistaken, 
because  Baron  von  Lucius  had  guaranteed  that 
Kalyschkoff  was  the  only  man  among  Russian 
newspaper  men  worthy  of  being  trusted  by  Ger- 
many. 

Captain  Rustenberg  had  none  too  exalted  an 
idea  of  the  Baron's  shrewdness  of  judgment,  but 

155 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

thought  it  wiser  not  to  say  so.  He  made  up 
his  mind,  however,  to  try  and  ascertain  from  other 
sources  at  his  disposal  the  real  literary  and  polit- 
ical standing  of  M.  Kalyschkoff.  In  the  mean- 
time he  acquiesced  in  his  colleague's  proposition 
that  he  should  again  meet  the  journalist.  So  they 
made  an  appointment  for  the  next  day  at  the 
house  of  another  German  agent  which  was  situ- 
ated a  little  out  of  town  on  one  of  the  islands 
which  are  a  favorite  summer  resort  for  the  inhab- 
itants of  Petrograd  during  the  hot  season. 

Before  Captain  Rustenberg  kept  this  appoint- 
ment, he  contrived  to  get  a  certain  knowledge 
concerning  M.  Kalyschkoff,  and  found  that  though 
he  was  considered  an  able  writer  he  was  far  from 
being  on  the  staff  of  the  Rousskoie  Slowo  to  which 
he  was  not  even  regularly  attached,  but  for  which 
he  wrote  only  occasionally;  he  was  considered 
an  ambitious  man  ready  to  take  his  bread  from 
whatever  source  it  could  be  buttered.  This  did 
not  incline  the  captain  in  the  journalist's  favor 
and  the  barefaced  way  in  which  Kalyschkoff,  no 
sooner  had  he  met  him  for  the  second  time,  began 
himself  to  broach  the  subject  of  starting  a  pacifist 
campaign  in  the  Russian  press  impressed  him 
disagreeably.  Had  Captain  Rustenberg  been  left 
to  do  as  he  liked,  he  certainly  would  not  have 

156 


M.  KALYSCHKOFF 

availed  himself  of  Kalyschkoff's  services.  But  he 
was  not  allowed  to  do  what  he  liked.  He  had 
reported  to  his  chief  the  tenor  of  his  conversation 
with  the  Russian  on  the  day  following  his  intro- 
duction to  him  at  M.  Propper's  house,  and  he 
promptly  received  a  verbal  order  through  a  mes- 
senger sent  to  him  from  Berlin  to  bring  M.  Kaly- 
schkoff  to  Stockholm.  An  official  from  the  For- 
eign Office  would  interview  the  journalist  there. 
Accordingly  the  captain  asked  Kalyschkoff  whether 
he  would  object  to  a  journey  to  Sweden,  and  he 
replied  that  nothing  would  please  him  better. 
The  Russian  suggested,  however,  that  it  would 
be  unwise  for  them  to  travel  together,  a  sug- 
gestion with  which  Captain  Rustenberg  agreed, 
because  for  personal  reasons  he  would  not  have 
cared  to  be  seen  leaving  Petrograd  in  the  com- 
pany of  M.  Kalyschkoff.  On  the  other  hand  the 
captain  wanted  to  get  behind  the  protestations 
of  friendship  and  good  will  for  Germany  which 
the  journalist  made  and  he  reasoned  that  this 
would  be  easier  during  long  hours  spent  together 
in  the  solitude  of  a  railway  compartment  than 
elsewhere.  So  he  proposed  that  he  should  leave 
Russia  alone  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  and  should 
wait  for  M.  Kalyschkoff  at  the  Swedish  frontier 
where  he  would  board  the  train.     The  arrange- 

157 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

ment  seemed  to  please  Kalyschkoff  and  so  after 
Captain  Rustenberg  had  handed  him  a  check  for 
traveling  expenses,  they  agreed  to  avoid  each' 
other  during  the  time  that  they  remained  in  Petro- 
grad.  They  parted  amicably  with  the  hope  of 
meeting  each  other  again  within  a  short  time. 


158 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   GERMAN   SECRET   SERVICE   IN   STOCKHOLM 

The  supposition  that  M.  Kalyschkoff  would 
unbend  during  their  long  journey  from  Hapa- 
randa  to  Stockholm  proved  exact,  for  he  and  Cap- 
tain Rustenberg  became  great  friends  during  the 
hours  when  they  had  nothing  to  do  except  en- 
tertain each  other.  The  captain  had  left  Petro- 
grad  some  three  or  four  days  before  the  Russian 
journalist,  and,  as  they  had  previously  arranged, 
he  boarded  the  Russian  train  at  the  Swedish 
frontier.  He  found  Kalyschkoff  in  an  excellent 
temper  and  very  anxious  about  what  he  might  be 
able  to  arrange  with  the  German  Foreign  Office. 
It  did  not  take  the  captain  long  to  discover  that 
very  probably  Kalyschkoff  would  probably  not 
be  able  to  arrange  anything  at  all,  because  his 
ideas  and  those  which  the  captain  knew  were  enter- 
tained in  Berlin  as  to  the  Russian's  eventual  use- 
fulness to  Germany  were  widely  different.  M. 
Kalyschkoff  was  an  ambitious  man  who  for  many 
years  had  nourished  the  dream  of  having  a  paper 
of  his  own.     He  imagined  that  he  could  take 

159 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

the  place  which  the  Nowoie  Wremia  and  other 
papers  of  similar  importance  occupied  in  Russia. 
He  hoped  that  he  would  be  able  to  bring  the 
German  Secret  Service  to  share  his  point  of  view 
on  the  subject  and  that  something  like  two  mil- 
lions or  thereabouts  would  be  put  at  his  disposal 
immediately.  With  this  amount  he  could  run  his 
daily  leaflet  for  some  months  at  least  and  prob- 
ably put  a  round  sum  of  money  in  his  poclcet. 
Now  Captain  Rustenberg  was  aware  that  the  rea- 
son his  chiefs  had  selected  M.  Kalyschkoff  from 
among  so  many  other  Russian  journalists  who 
would  have  been  only  too  glad  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  offers  made  to  them  was  that  they  imag- 
ined that  he  controlled  the  Rousskoie  Slowo  to  a 
certain  extent.  The  chiefs  had  been  given  this 
entirely  erroneous  impression  by  Baron  von 
Lucius.  They  were  after  the  Rousskoie  Slowo 
which  they  considered,  and  not  without  reason,  the 
most  influential  and  widely  read  organ  in  Russia. 
Neither  the  "  Professor  "  nor  Herr  Steinwachs 
cared  in  the  least  for  M.  Kalyschkoff  himself,  nor 
would  they  have  taken  the  trouble  to  seek  him  out 
for  his  intrinsic  merits  or  value  as  a  writer. 

Of  course  Captain  Rustenberg  did  not  tell  Kaly- 
schkoff all  this,  for  he  thought  it  better  for  the 

1 60 


STOCKHOLM 

man  to  see  things  for  himself  so  that  afterwards 
he  could  not  say  that  the  captain  had  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  inevitable  disillusionment 
which  awaited  him.  Captain  Rustenberg  applied 
himself  to  the  task  of  finding  out  whether  he  was 
really  such  an  exceedingly  well  informed  man  as 
he  had  been  represented  to  be.  In  Russia  so 
many  people  have  long  stories  to  tell  that  it  is 
sometimes  difficult  to  differentiate  between  the 
truth,  bluff  and  gossip.  The  difficulty  which 
people  had  in  discussing  openly  certain  subjects 
which  the  government  had  tabooed  for  some  rea- 
son or  other  resulted  in  rumors  everywhere,  so 
that  it  was  a  common  occurrence  for  people  to 
come  to  the  captain  and  relate  a  sensational  yarn 
which  was  so  exceedingly  well  presented  and  con- 
ceived that  it  bore  the  stamp  of  reality.  People 
did  nothing  else  but  try  to  find  something  new 
to  tell;  nowhere  in  those  days  which  are  now 
past  and  gone  were  more  persons  to  be  found 
who  seemed  to  make  their  whole  aim  in  life  and 
the  sole  business  the  discovery  of  an  unknown 
piece  of  news  than  in  Petrograd.  Captain  Rus- 
tenberg had  no  reason  to  suppose  that  M.  Kaly- 
schkoff  was  different  from  his  compatriots  in  this 
respect,  so  he  naturally  listened  with  something 

i6i 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

akin  to  suspicion  to  all  he  had  to  relate  concern- 
ing the  inner  workings  of  home  and  foreign  poli- 
tics in  Russia. 

Nevertheless  the  captain  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  if  the  journalist  was  not  remarkably  informed 
he  at  least  did  not  belong  to  the  tribe  of  individ- 
uals who  invent  stories  for  themselves  when  they 
have  not  been  intrusted  with  a  sensational  one  by 
some  one  else.  He  had  no  imagination,  though  he 
expected  to  become  the  publisher  of  a  newspaper, 
and  he  would  have  been  incapable  of  concocting 
any  tale  even  if  the  complete  annihilation  of  his 
enemies  had  depended  on  It.  One  could  assume, 
therefore,  that  a  certain  amount  of  truth  lay  at 
the  bottom  of  whatever  information  he  was  dis- 
tributing. So  when  he  said  that  it  would  be  a 
relatively  easy  matter  to  change  the  current  of 
public  opinion  in  Russia,  especially  in  Petrograd, 
and  to  make  it  lean  towards  the  conclusion  of  a 
separate  peace,  later  on  to  an  economic  and  mili- 
tary alliance  with  Germany,  provided  one  wanted 
to  spend  sufficient  money  on  the  enterprise,  the 
captain  was  inclined  to  believe  him. 

In  Stockholm  the  two  separated.  M.  Kaly- 
schkoff  went  to  the  Grand  Hotel,  while  Captain 
Rustenberg  directed  his  steps  toward  a  more 
modest  abode,  known  as  the  Hotel  Anglais,  where 

162 


STOCKHOLM 

comparatively  speaking  there  were  not  so  many 
spies  as  in  the  fashionable  inn  at  which  his  travel- 
ing companion  had  reserved  a  room  by  telegraph. 
The  next  morning  the  two  men  met  as  if  by  chance 
in  the  park,  and  Kalyschkoff  was  taken  to  the 
dark  side  street  where  the  German  Intelligence 
Department  had  an  office  in  the  rooms  occupied 
by  a  big  shipping  company  from  Stettin.  This 
company  had  elected,  for  some  reason  no  one 
except  the  German  Secret  Service  could  under- 
stand, to  open  this  agency  in  Sweden  during  the 
war. 

In  this  office  the  captain  and  the  Russian  jour- 
nalist found  Baron  Oppel,  one  of  the  most  trusted 
figures  in  the  Secret  Service  who  was  in  charge 
of  the  entire  spy  system  organized  in  the  Scandi- 
navian countries  and  who  had  brought  it  to  a 
high  degree  of  perfection  and  efficiency.  The 
Baron  received  his  visitors  in  a  friendly  way  and 
at  once  entered  into  conversation  with  M.  Kaly- 
schkoff trying  to  draw  out  his  views  and  inten- 
tions. The  latter  did  not  seem  to  think  it  worth 
while  to  keep  his  questioner  in  suspense,  for  he 
at  once  unfolded  his  plan  of  action  which  re- 
solved itself  into  a  request  to  have  two  million 
rubles  put  at  his  disposal.  With  this  sum  he  fully 
expected  to  be  able  to  start  a  newspaper  and  also 

163 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

with  great  chances  of  success  the  peace  propa- 
ganda which,  as  he  declared,  he  considered  indis- 
pensable in  order  to  save  both  Russia  and  Ger- 
many from  the  disasters  which  a  continuation  of 
the  war  would  entail  for  them  both  —  and  he 
wanted  to  begin  at  once  without  a  moment's  delay. 
The  Baron  then  mentioned  the  Rousskoie  Slowo 
and  inquired  whether  this  paper  could  be  induced 
to  undertake  the  conduct  of  such  a  propaganda 
which,  thanks  to  the  influence  it  wielded,  would 
have  far  more  chances  of  proving  successful  than  if 
started  suddenly  by  a  new  organ  which  would  at 
once  be  suspected  of  being  a  German  mouthpiece. 
M.  Kalyschkoff  answered  this  remark,  with  a  dig- 
nity that  savored  of  the  comic,  that  no  one  In  the 
whole  Russian  Empire  would  for  one  moment  har- 
bor such  a  thought  when  it  became  known  that  HE 
was  the  editor  of  this  enterprising  young  paper. 
He  evidently  entertained  an  immense  idea  of  his 
own  importance,  which,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  was 
not  shared  by  any  one  else,  as  Captain  Rustenberg 
had  had  occasion  to  ascertain  in  Petrograd. 

They  talked,  or  rather  M.  Kalyschkoff  talked, 
for  more  than  an  hour,  but  nothing  was  settled, 
and  Indeed  nothing  practical  was  suggested  on 
either  side.     The  captain  noticed  that  the  Baron 

164 


STOCKHOLM 

kept  looking  at  the  door  as  If  he  expected  some 
one  to  join  them  and  he  wondered  who  that  some- 
body might  be.  He  did  not  remain  long  in  doubt, 
for  the  door  opened  slowly  and  a  man  he  recog- 
nized as  a  director  of  one  of  the  departments  of 
the  German  Foreign  Office,  Herr  Doctor  von 
Mayer,  entered  the  room. 

Herr  von  Mayer  was  one  of  those  busybodies 
who  are  intensely  disliked  by  all  their  co-workers 
and  colleagues  and  extremely  appreciated  by  their 
chiefs  and  superiors.  He  was  a  short  slim  indi- 
vidual with  a  small  yellow  untrlmmed  beard,  spec- 
tacles which  somehow  always  were  dropping  down 
his  nose  which  was  not  large  enough  to  lend  them 
support,  and  small  well  shod  feet  upon  which  he 
looked  from  time  to  time  with  great  complacency. 
Herr  Doctor  von  Mayer  had  a  high  opinion  of  his 
own  faculties  and  intelligence,  but  In  an  entirely 
different  manner  from  M.  Kalyschkoff,  inasmuch 
as  he  had  sufficient  tact  to  know  when  to  air  it 
and  when  to  refrain  from  doing  so  at  times  when 
it  might  be  inconvenient.  Captain  Rustenberg 
had  always  considered  him  a  muddler,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  both  Chancellor  von  Bethmann-HoUweg 
and  Foreign  Secretary  von  Jagow  were  deeply 
impressed  by  the  intellectual  faculties  of  Doctor 

165 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

von  Mayer  and  often  employed  him  upon  confi- 
dential and  delicate  missions  connected  with  the 
activities  of  the  Secret  Service. 

The  doctor  came  in  wiping  his  spectacles,  and 
after  he  had  been  introduced  to  M.  Kalyschkoff  he 
at  once  entered  into  the  subject  which  had  brought 
them  both  to  Sweden.  The  Russian  unfolded  his 
program  once  more,  and  as  he  spoke  one  could 
see  the  face  of  Doctor  von  Mayer  take  on  more 
and  more  an  expression  of  amazement.  At  last 
he  could  hold  in  no  longer  and  exclaimed  with 
just  a  touch  of  impatience  in  his  accent: 

'*  All  this  is  very  well,  M.  Kalyschkoff,  but  it 
is  not  what  we  require  nor  what  we  had  hoped 
you  could  do  for  us.  We  had  thought  that  you 
would  be  able  to  secure  for  us  the  sympathies  of 
the  Rousskoie  SIowo,  and  we  were  ready  to  be 
extremely  generous  in  order  to  obtain  them. 
But  I  think  that  I  can  venture  to  say  that  my 
chiefs  had  never  considered  the  question  of  start- 
ing an  entirely  new  paper  which,  especially  at 
present  during  the  war,  it  would  be  very  difficult, 
not  to  say  impossible,  to  transform  into  an  in- 
fluential organ  of  any  political  party.  The  Slozvo 
has  an  enormous  number  of  readers  ready  to 
adopt  Its  Ideas  and  opinions,  and  anything  it 
prints  obtains  consideration  at  least,   even  if  it 

1 66 


STOCKHOLM 

falls  to  convince  people.  Can  you  not  induce 
the  Slowo  to  enter  into  your  views,  M.  Kaly- 
schkoff?" 

Doctor  von  Mayer  looked  anxiously  at  the  Rus- 
sian journalist,  but  the  latter  did  not  respond. 
He  was  crushed  by  a  feeling  of  intense  disappoint- 
ment, and  probably  was  asking  himself  why  he 
had  been  such  a  fool  as  to  come  all  the  way  to 
Sweden  in  order  to  be  asked  to  put  money  into 
other  people's  pockets.  Doctor  von  Mayer  went 
on: 

"  You  sec,  my  dear  M.  Kalyschkoflf,  I  was  sent 
here  with  a  distinct  mission  —  that  of  acquiring 
through  you  the  control  of  the  Rousskoie  Slowo. 
Once  you  say  that  you  cannot  help  us  in  that 
respect,  I  shall  have  to  report  to  my  chiefs  the 
new  offer  which  you  have  just  made,  and  as  soon 
as  I  hear  from  them  I  will  let  you  know  the 
result.  In  the  meantime  I  do  not  think  there  is 
any  necessity  for  you  to  remain  in  Stockholm. 
We  can  always  reach  you  when  we  like,  and  very 
probably  we  shall  soon  require  your  presence  here 
again.  You  must  not  imagine  that  we  do  not 
appreciate  your  offer,  and  personally  I  would  be 
ready  to  accept  it,  but  you  know,  my  dear  sir, 
what  It  Is  to  be  bound  by  precise  instructions, 
and  much  as  I  would  like  to,  I  cannot  exceed 

167 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

those  I  have  received.     Will  you  meanwhile  show 
me  your  bill  and  I  will  write  out  a  check  for  you  ?  " 

Kalyschkoff  looked  absolutely  disgusted. 

*'  I  have  not  been  here  long  enough  to  run 
up  a  bill,"  he  said.  "  But  there  are  my  railway 
tickets  and,  and  .  .  .  my  time." 

"  Oh,  my  dear  sir,  I  feel  sure  you  will  be  glad 
to  have  spent  it  for  the  good  of  your  country!  " 
exclaimed  Herr  von  Mayer.  "  One  cannot  set 
any  value  on  your  time ;  it  is  too  precious  for  that, 
and  we  must  pass  it  over.  But  your  expenses, 
your  expenses,  surely  you  will  allow  us  to  pay 
them.  Let  me  see,  will  one  thousand  marks  do, 
with  the  tickets  of  course?  " 

Kalyschkoff  looked  more  and  more  disgusted, 
while  Captain  Rustenberg  was  chuckling  inwardly 
at  this  exhibition  of  economy  on  the  part  of  the 
doctor  who  remained  faithful  to  the  German  prin- 
ciple that  one  must  pay  only  for  value  received. 
As  he  found  that  no  one  replied,  he  drew  a  check 
book  from  his  pocket,  filled  out  one  of  the  leaves 
with  his  fountain  pen  and  handed  it  politely  to 
the  Russian  with  the  remark: 

"  This  is  only  for  your  expenses,  not  for  any 
services  you  have  rendered  us.  These  would  be 
invaluable,  and  we  shall  avail  ourselves  of  them 
yet.     I  assure  you  that  we  shall." 

1 68 


STOCKHOLM 

As  it  happened  he  did,  but  about  this  I  shall 
write  later.  So  the  first  attempt  of  the  German 
Secret  Service  to  corrupt  a  Russian  journalist  fell 
through,  and  poor  M.  Kalyschkoff  returned  to 
Petrograd  not  perhaps  a  wiser,  but  certainly  a 
more  disconsolate  and  disillusioned  man  than 
when  he  left  it. 


169 


CHAPTER  XVI 

CAPTAIN  RUSTENBERG  IS  SENT  TO  SWITZERLAND 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the  interview 
between  Doctor  von  Mayer  and  M.  Kalyschkoff, 
the  former  held  a  conference  with  Captain  Rus- 
tenberg  and  Baron  Oppel.  The  captain  then 
heard  for  the  first  time  that  it  was  the  intention 
of  the  German  government  to  spend  millions  if 
need  be  to  secure  a  separate  peace  with  Russia, 
which  would  free  the  army  and  allow  it  to  be 
hurled  against  the  western  front.  He  was  also 
told  that  in  order  to  reach  this  much  desired 
end,  it  had  been  decided  to  engage  simultaneously 
in  negotiations  with  men  able  to  influence  not 
only  public  opinion  but  also  the  government  in 
Russia.  The  German  government  was  prepared 
as  well  to  negotiate  with  the  leaders  of  the  anar- 
chist parties  so  as  to  be  able,  if  necessary,  to 
help  the  latter  to  seize  the  supreme  power  in 
the  country,  even  if  this  meant  the  overthrow 
of  the  Romanoff  dynasty.     The  captain  was  ad- 

170 


SENT  TO  SWITZERT.AND 

vised  that  Leninc,  or  loullanoff,  had  already  been 
approached  and  that  he  had  promised  his  coop- 
eration should  his  services  be  required  in  earnest. 
And  he  was  also  given  the  names  of  certain  per- 
sons, who,  in  case  of  emergency,  would  be  the 
go-betweens  to  engage  in  serious  discussions  with 
either  side  which  would  serve  Germany  best  when 
things  had  ripened  sufficiently  for  that. 

Most  of  these  go-betweens  were  residing  in 
Sweden  at  the  time  and  were  employed  in  the 
hard  task  of  earning  money  at  the  expense  of 
the  Allies.  One  of  them  was  a  Jew  named  Mal- 
iniak  who  had  been  condemned  to  some  years,  or 
months,  I  don't  remember  which,  in  prison  in 
Russia,  but  had  contrived  to  get  himself  appointed 
purveyor  of  the  Russian  Red  Cross  in  Stockholm 
where  he  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  new 
millionaires  whom  the  war  had  helped  to  spring 
into  existence.  He  was  on  excellent  terms  with 
the  Russian  Minister,  M.  Neklioudoff,  to  whom 
he  had  sold  a  beautiful  motor  car  at  a  reasonable 
price.  Maliniak  was  fast  adding  to  the  already 
large  number  of  jewels  which  his  wife  liked  to 
sport  upon  every  possible  or  impossible  occasion. 
He  pretended  to  be  a  ferocious  anti-German,  but 
all  along  he  was  doing  business  with  German 
firms,  and  in  addition  to  his  other  qualities,  he 

171 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

had  suddenly  developed  an  ambition  to  play  a 
role  in  politics,  and,  thanks  to  his  talents,  bring 
about  the  reestablishment  of  world  peace.  He 
had  friends  without  number  in  the  Hebrew  com- 
munity in  Petrograd  and  other  towns  in  Russia, 
and  through  them  he  was  kept  well  informed 
of  all  that  was  going  on  in  the  country.  Doctor 
von  Mayer  felt  sure  that  when  required  Maliniak 
would  be  able  to  bring  him  into  relations  with 
some  member  or  other  of  the  Czar's  government. 
Herr  von  Mayer  told  the  captain,  although  the 
latter  had  not  noticed  it  when  in  Petrograd,  that 
Germany  had  influential  friends  in  Russian  Court 
circles,  who,  though  pro-Ally,  would  like  to  see 
an  honorable  peace  concluded  as  they  feared  that 
the  dynasty  would  not  be  able  to  stand  the  strain 
of  a  long  war  and  might  collapse  under  it.  These 
people  were  distinct  from  the  avowed  pro-Ger- 
mans including  the  Czarina  and  her  favorite 
Rasputine,  who  was  still  alive,  but  they  worked 
for  the  same  ends  although  with  different  motives. 
When  Captain  Rustenberg  heard  all  this,  he 
regretted  that  when  in  Petrograd  he  had  confined 
his  activities  to  observing  what  went  on  in  ad- 
vanced radical  and  anarchist  circles  and  had  de- 
voted no  time  to  the  sayings  and  doings  of  the 
upper  classes.     At  this  period  people  were  talking 

172 


SENT  TO  SWITZERLAND 

of  an  intended  visit  of  members  of  the  Duma 
to  England  where  they  were  to  be  the  guests  of 
the  House  of  Commons.  Berlin  knew  all  about 
this,  and  Herr  Steinwachs  had  given  special  in- 
structions to  his  Stockholm  office  at  least  to  make 
an  attempt  to  get  in  contact  with  some  of  the 
deputies  in  the  delegation  during  their  stay  in 
Sweden,  on  their  way  back  to  Russia.  He  was 
anxious  to  learn  their  impressions  and  whether 
their  trip  had  weakened  or  strengthened  the  ties 
which  bound  their  country  to  Great  Britain. 
Captain  Rustenberg  was  not  in  accord  with  his 
chief  on  the  advisability  of  this  step,  as  he  feared 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  prevent  the  Allies 
hearing  of  it  and  that  in  the  long  run  it  could 
lead  to  nothing.  Any  member  of  the  Duma  con- 
victed of  having  had  intercourse  with  Germany 
or  having  spoken  with  Germans  would  simply  be 
arrested  for  treason  on  his  return  to  Russia. 
Nothing  practical  could  come  out  of  such  an  inter- 
view. 

The  idea  of  getting  in  touch  with  the  leaders 
of  the  Russian  anarchist  circles  abroad  appealed 
to  the  captain's  imagination  a  great  deal  more, 
always  provided  the  German  government  would 
risk  being  caught  fomenting  a  revolution  in  the 
realm  of  the  Czar.     It  would  be  an  expensive 

173 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

affair  and  dangerous.  However  this  was  none 
of  his  business,  and  Germany  was  rich  enough  to 
try  the  experiment. 

M.  Kalyschkoff's  conduct  was  discussed  at  the 
conference,  and  Baron  Oppel  did  not  think  it  wise 
to  discourage  him  altogether.  Of  course  his 
idea  of  giving  him  a  couple  of  millions  to  bring, 
or  not  to  bring,  out  a  daily  paper  was  preposterous 
and  could  not  be  entertained  for  a  moment.  But 
they  might  let  him  hope  that  it  was  feasible,  so 
as  to  keep  him  in  constant  anxiety  and  increase 
his  desire  to  serve  Germany.  He  could  do  this 
not  so  much  as  a  newspaper  man  but  as  a  re- 
porter of  what  took  place  in  Petrograd  where  he 
undoubtedly  had  excellent  means  of  getting  him- 
self well  informed  as  to  what  was  going  on  in 
administrative  and  social  circles,  and  also  of  as- 
certaining the  fluctuations  of  public  opinion. 

The  Baron  suggested  to  Doctor  von  Mayer  that 
he  ought  to  sec  Kalyschkoff  at  once  before  he 
had  time  to  leave  and  give  him  some  sort  of 
encouragement  to  remain  faithful  to  Germany. 
Captain  Rustenberg  did  not  believe  for  a  moment 
that  the  Russian  press  could  be  controlled  in  any 
way,  so  long  as  the  war  lasted,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  press  was  entirely  in  the  hands 
of  the  government  and  it  could  only  print  what 

174 


SENT  TO  SWITZERLAND 

it  was  allowed  to.  But  he  vfas  sure  that  it  would 
be  useful  for  Germany  to  try  and  acquire  friends 
among  Russian  journalists  and  that  M.  Kaly- 
schkoff  could  render  some  services  in  pointing  out 
the  men  most  likely  to  accept  German  advances. 
Doctor  von  Mayer  seemed  to  agree  with  this, 
though  he  said  he  had  no  authorization  to  decide 
such  important  matters  of  his  own  accord,  and  that 
in  any  case  he  must  refer  to  the  Foreign  Office 
which  would  advise  the  Secret  Service  and  give  it 
a  copy  of  his  report.  Captain  Rustenberg  won- 
dered secretly  how  it  had  happened  that  the  doc- 
tor had  been  sent  to  Stockholm  to  interview  Kaly- 
schkoff  when  it  would  have  been  relatively  easy 
to  entrust  the  mission  to  Baron  Oppel.  Later 
on  he  heard  that  there  had  been  furious  discus- 
sions on  the  subject  between  Herr  von  Bethmann- 
Hollweg  and  the  "  Professor  "  and  that  the  Chan- 
cellor had  protested  against  the  authoritative  tone 
assumed  by  the  Staff  backed  by  the  Intelligence 
Department  in  regard  to  what  one  would  call  the 
undercurrents  and  secret  diplomacy  of  the  war. 
Finally  the  Staff  had  yielded  and  declared  itself 
ready  to  allow  the  Foreign  Office  to  see  what  it 
could  do  in  winning  the  aid  of  some  at  least  of 
Germany's  opponents  with  the  help  of  excellent 
German  or  foreign  banknotes. 

175 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

Captain  Rustenberg  was  told  further  that  this 
concession  had  been  made  because  the  military 
party  wanted  to  prove  that  the  civilian  element 
could  not  do  the  work,  and  had  wanted  to  have 
another  brilliant  illustration  of  the  stupidity  of 
German  diplomacy  of  which  to  make  capital. 

The  captain  was  making  preparations  to  return 
to  Germany  when,  much  to  his  surprise,  he  re- 
ceived orders  not  to  come  to  Berlin  but  to  proceed 
through  Dresden  and  Munich  to  Switzerland 
where  he  was  to  see  the  now  famous  Lenine, 
alias  loulianoff,  and  hold  several  conferences  with 
him  and  his  associates.  Of  course  there  was  noth- 
ing to  do  but  obey,  and  so  Captain  Rustenberg 
started,  but  he  did  not  quite  conform  to  the  in- 
structions for  he  did  take  in  Berlin  on  the  way. 
First,  it  was  a  more  direct  route  to  Basle,  his 
first  stopping  place,  and  he  wanted  supplementary 
information  which  he  thought  the  "  Professor  " 
would  be  able  to  give  him.  He  saw  his  chief  the 
day  of  his  return  and  the  two  frankly  discussed 
the  whole  Russian  situation.  Captain  Rustenberg 
did  not  conceal  his  belief  that  the  country  was 
crumbling  under  the  burden  of  war  and  that  it 
was  far  heavier  than  it  could  bear.  The  question 
of  the  conclusion  of  a  separate  peace  independent 
of  anything  the  Allies  might  say  or  of  any  pressure 

176 


SENT  TO  SWITZERLAND 

they  might  bring  was  in  his  opinion  merely  a  ques- 
tion of  time.  What  was  far  more  interesting 
was  the  question  with  whom  Germany  would  event- 
ually conclude  this  separate  peace.  Would  it  be 
with  the  Czar  or  with  a  radical,  not  to  say  an 
anarchist,  government?  A  really  democratic  gov- 
ernment such  as  a  Cadet  administration  would 
never  be  induced  to  subscribe  to  such  a  peace. 

The  "  Professor,"  when  these  facts  were  ex- 
posed to  him,  did  not  seem  to  hesitate,  but 
promptly  replied  that  of  course  he  agreed;  that  he 
had  more  faith  in  the  Russian  radicals  than  in  the 
Czar,  who,  as  he  believed,  could  not  be  brought 
to  break  faith  with  the  Allies,  especially  with  his 
cousin  King  George  with  whom  he  had  been  on 
intimate  terms  ever  since  the  days  of  their  com- 
mon boyhood. 

"  Nicholas  II  is  sentimental,"  he  added.  "  And 
it  is  impossible  to  discuss  politics  with  a  senti- 
mental man.  A  revolution  would  be  of  more 
use  to  us  in  Russia  than  winning  three  battles. 
Therefore  we  must  strive  towards  the  breaking 
out  of  one  and  for  this  reason  we  must  put  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Russian  anarchists  abroad  all 
the  money  they  need  to  bring  it  about.  You 
must  please  remember  this  when  you  talk  with 
these  gentlemen.     Offer  it  to  them  for  their  propa- 

177 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

ganda,  and  look  through  your  fingers  when  you 
see  that  they  want  it  only  for  themselves.  The 
larger  the  contributions  you  make  them,  the  more 
chances  you  will  have  that  '•hey  will  become  so 
accustomed  to  handling  large  sums  that  they  will 
be  ready  to  resort  to  any  means,  legal  or  not,  in 
order  to  retain  it.  Keep  this  fact  in  mind  and 
act  accordingly,"  added  the  *'  Professor."  So  on 
this  occasion  as  well  as  on  many  others  the  "  Pro- 
fessor "  proved  himself  a  profound  student  of 
human  nature.  He  knew  that  most  men  have 
their  price  and  that  the  only  important  question 
is  whether  one  can  afford  to  pay  it  or  not.  Cap- 
tain Rustenberg  felt  sure  that  in  the  case  of  Leninc 
the  German  Treasury  would  be  able  to  meet  his 
exigencies. 

The  captain  left  Berlin  the  next  morning  for 
Basle  where  he  stopped  at  the  "  Three  Kings," 
registering  of  course  under  an  assumed  name. 
The  German  secret  agents  had  obviously  been  ad- 
vised of  his  coming,  for  he  had  hardly  brushed 
the  dust  off  his  clothes  before  going  down  to  dinner 
than  there  came  a  knock  at  the  door.  When 
he  answered,  he  recognized  no  less  a  personage 
than  Mr.  Barker  whom  he  had  believed  some- 
where in  America  and  had  never  suspected  of  en- 
joying himself  in  Switzerland. 

178 


CHAPTER  XVII 

LENINE    AND    HIS    FRIENDS 

Although  Mr.  Barker  was  the  last  bird  in  the 
air  and  fish  in  the  sea  that  Captain  Rustenberg 
had  expected  to  meet,  he  was  unfeignedly  glad  to 
see  him  appear.  For  one  thing  Barker's  presence 
would  relieve  him  from  a  stupendous  responsi- 
bility, and  for  another  with  him  at  his  side  he 
would  not  be  worried  by  business  arrangements 
which  he  understood  but  too  well  would  have  to 
be  taken  before  they  left  Switzerland  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Lenine,  or  Mr.  loulianoff,  to  give  him 
the  two  names  under  which  he  was  known  alter- 
nately. In  money  matters  Mr.  Barker  had  far 
more  liberty  than  had  been  awarded  t<x  Captain 
Rustenberg  and  his  credit  stood  far  higher  than 
the  latter's  in  the  different  banks  with  which  both 
had  to  deal.  Moreover  Barker  was  as  much 
thought  of  in  the  German  Foreign  Office  as  in  the 
Intelligence  Department,  which  was  more  than 
Captain  Rustenberg  could  say,  for  he  knew  that 
he  was  the  object  of  the  special  abomination  of 

179 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

Chancellor  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  who  had  com- 
plained several  times  of  his  independence  of  char- 
acter. And  the  negotiations  which  were  about  to 
begin  were  as  much  diplomatic  as  military,  if  we 
take  the  latter  term  to  mean  carrying  the  war 
into  the  territory  of  the  enemy. 

Mr.  Barker  informed  his  colleague  that  he 
had  been  staying  in  Zurich  for  the  past  three 
weeks,  but  that  he  had  been  unable  to  meet  Lenine, 
who,  for  some  reason  or  other  best  known  to 
himself,  avoided  making  new  acquaintances.  He 
was,  it  seems,  busy  receiving  people  who  came 
to  him  from  various  parts  of  the  world  and  he 
was  certainly  engaged  in  some  enterprise  or  other 
of  an  important  nature.  But  in  spite  of  Barker's 
efforts  to  get  in  touch  with  him  or  acquire  some 
inkling  as  to  what  he  was  about,  he  had  failed  to 
do  so.  He  hoped,  therefore,  that  Captain  Rus- 
tenberg  would  be  able  to  achieve  what  he  himself 
had  not  been  able  to  do  and  to  obtain  an  interview 
from  Lenine  on  the  grounds  of  their  previous 
acquaintance  just  before  the  war. 

Mr.  Barker  also  informed  the  captain  that  they 
had  to  be  extremely  careful  in  everything  they 
did,  because  the  secret  service  of  the  Allies  was 
exercising  a  sharp  and  constant  control  over  the 
actions  of  every  foreigner  in  Switzerland  and  that 

i8o 


LENINE  AND  HIS  FRIENDS 

the  Russian  anarchists  in  particular  were  watched 
with  unusual  care. 

"  It  seems  that  they  guess  the  part  the  anar- 
chists might  play  in  the  event  of  peace  negotiations 
with  Russia,"  he  said.  "  You'd  better  keep  up 
the  story  that  you  are  a  Polish  anarchist,  so  I 
should  advise  you  to  register  under  the  same  name 
you  bore  in  Paris  at  the  hotel  in  Zurich.  I  have 
brought  the  necessary  Russian  passport  you  will 
be  called  on  to  produce.  As  you  will  observe,  this 
passport  bears  the  date  of  to-day  as  the  one  on 
which  you  crossed  the  frontier.  I  would  suggest 
that  you  leave  Basle  early  to-morrow  morning  by 
the  train  corresponding  to  the  one  which  ought  to 
have  brought  you  to  Zurich  had  you  really  used 
this  passport.  And  I  would  further  recommend 
you  to  board  this  train  at  some  station  further 
north  and  to  arrange  for  some  person  or  other  to 
be  able  to  confirm  the  fact  that  you  passed  through 
this  place  in  an  express  train  coming  from  France. 
As  for  myself  you  will  always  find  me  at  Inter- 
laken  should  you  require  me  and  a  wire  will  bring 
me  to  any  place  in  which  you  think  we  may  meet 
without  arousing  suspicion." 

The  captain  acted  on  this  advice  and  the  next 
evening  found  him  at  Zurich.  Thanks  to  Mr. 
Barker  he  knew  where  he  could  fiind  Lenine,  and 

i8i 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

he  sent  him  a  line  reminding  him  of  their  former 
interviews  and  asked  when  it  would  be  convenient 
for  them  to  meet.  The  captain  had  not  long  to 
wait  for  a  reply,  for  hardly  an  hour  had  elapsed 
after  the  special  messenger  had  been  dispatched 
before  Lenine  himself  walked  into  the  room. 

Lenine  had  changed  a  good  deal  since  their  last 
meeting  and  had  aged  considerably.  His  long 
beard  was  heavily  streaked  with  gray,  but  the  eyes 
retained  their  bright,  almost  too  bright,  expres- 
sion. He  appeared  to  be  in  excellent  humor  and 
at  once  asked  for  news  of  "  our  friends  in  Petro- 
grad,"  appearing  extremely  interested  in  every- 
thing the  captain  had  to  relate  about  his  last 
journey  to  Russia.  His  one  fear  seemed  to  be 
the  release  of  the  famous  Bourtzeff,  whom  he  con- 
sidered the  most  dangerous  enemy  the  anarchist* 
had.  He  acknowledged  that  when  the  former 
nihilist  decided  to  return  to  his  native  land  and 
offered  his  services,  that  he,  Lenine,  had  caused 
secret  information  to  be  conveyed  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Czar  concerning  that  same  Bourtzeff. 
This  had  resulted  in  the  nihilist  being  arrested  at 
the  frontier  and  conveyed  to  the  fortress  of  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul  in  Petrograd.  When  the  cap- 
tain inquired  the  reason  for  this  animosity  towards 
a  man  who  was  so  highly  respected  in  radical  cir- 

182 


LENINE  AND  HIS  FRIENDS 

cles  for  the  magnificent  manner  in  which  he  had 
unmasked  the  notorious  Aseff,  Lenine  replied  that 
Bourtzeff  knew  too  much  and  was  a  man  who 
could  not  be  trusted  by  the  extremists  because  he 
was  apt  to  develop  scruples  at  the  wrong  moment. 
And  he  added  significantly,  "  Scruples  are  things 
which  we  ought  to  forget  as  soon  as  possible  in 
the  present  crisis." 

They  then  proceeded  to  discuss  the  prospects 
of  the  revolutionary  parties  in  Russia.  Lenine 
owned  frankly  that  there  was  risk  of  these  parties 
being  seriously  compromised  by  the  lack  of  money. 
This  interfered  with  the  propaganda  he  consid- 
ered ought  to  be  carried  on  among  the  workmen 
and  especially  among  the  munition  makers  in 
Petrograd.  He  relied  on  these  workers  to  bring 
about  the  reforms  he  intended  to  make  as  soon 
as  events  put  him  in  power.  The  principal  one  of 
these  reforms  was  the  distribution  of  the  land 
among  the  peasants  and  of  the  money  belonging  to 
banks  and  private  capitalists  among  the  prole- 
tariat. 

"  This  is  the  only  program  which  will  be  accept- 
able to  my  party,"  he  declared,  "  and  the  sooner  it 
is  put  into  execution  the  better  it  will  be  for  the 
Russian  people  and  even  for  the  people  who  will 
be  compelled  to  disgorge  their  wealth,  because  at 

183 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

the  present  day  they  will  only  be  asked  to  give  up 
their  money;  later  on  they  might  be  required  to 
do  so,  and,  if  need  be,  forced  to  the  sacrifice  under 
threat  of  being  killed  or  put  out  of  the  way  in 
some  manner  or  other.  The  Russian  nation  has 
been  oppressed  for  too  long  a  time ;  it  must  assert 
itself,  and,"  he  added  significantly,  "  you  know 
what  it  means  when  a  whole  nation  asserts  itself." 

"  When  I  saw  you  in  Paris,"  Captain  Rusten- 
berg  remarked,  "  I  thought  you  said  that  you  had 
been  promised  money  by  the  German  socialists." 

Lenine  burst  out  in  a  rage. 

"Yes,  they  promised  me  money  I"  he  ex- 
claimed. "  But  they  failed  to  redeem  their  prom- 
ises, and  so  far  I  have  received  nothing.  How 
can  we  proceed  without  funds?  Oh,  if  only  I 
could  lay  my  hands  on  those  who  have  so  basely 
deceived  me,  they  would  hear  a  piece  of  my 
mind!" 

Captain  Rustenberg  then  proceeded  to  explain 
that  he  had  recently  seen  in  Basle  one  of  the  lead- 
ers of  the  socialist  party  in  Bavaria  who  could 
dispose  of  large  sums  and  who  would  be  willing 
to  put  a  considerable  amount  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Russian  revolutionists.  This  man  would  probably 
impose  conditions  in  regard  to  his  support  with 
which  Lenine  was  already  acquainted,  as  he  knew 

184 


MftiMaMti 


c3 

cr 
-a 

CO 

<u 

X 
■> 

PQ 
tc 

'> 


~    H 


LENINE  AND  HIS  FRIENDS 

that  Lenine  had  been  in  negotiations  with  his  Ger- 
men  brethren  before  the  war.  Lenine  did  not 
deny  the  fact,  but  added  that  these  negotiations 
had  come  to  nothing  because  they  would  not  leave 
him  free  to  apply  the  methods  he  considered  most 
suitable  for  the  triumph  of  the  general  anarchy 
which  he  was  trying  to  bring  about  in  the  whole 
world.  He  had  a  broad  program  and  he  would 
have  liked  to  have  begun  Its  execution  simultane- 
ously in  Germany  and  Russia,  but  the  Teuton 
revolutionists  had  objected. 

"  They  are  poor  creatures  after  all,"  Lenine 
remarked.  "  They  put  their  Fatherland  before 
their  party  and  before  the  sacred  cause  of  a  gen- 
eral revolution  and  upheaval  of  the  present  social 
order.  But  I  see  to-day  that  I  was  wrong  to  re- 
buke them;  I  ought  to  have  availed  myself  of  the 
help  which  was  extended  to  me  and  trusted  more 
to  the  future.  Our  Ideas  spread  like  lightning 
and  as  soon  as  we  have  succeeded  in  imposing 
them  in  one  country,  they  will  surely  and  rapidly 
invade  all  others.  I  see  it  now  and,  believe  me, 
if  the  offers  I  received  three  years  ago  were  made 
to  me  again,  I  should  accept  them  without  hesi- 
tation." 

After  this  the  rest  was  comparatively  easy,  and 
Captain  Rustenberg  soon  came  to  terms  with  the 

185 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

Russian  agitator.  Mr.  Barker  was  introduced  as 
an  American  I.  W.  W.  and  as  such  immediately 
secured  the  warm  sympathies  of  Lenine.  A  plan 
of  action  was  quickly  drawn  up,  which  was  to  be 
put  in  action  within  a  short  time  and  as  soon  as  it 
had  been  ascertained  without  a  doubt  that  a  change 
of  government  in  Russia  could  take  place  without 
arousing  any  opposition  among  the  people.  Le- 
nine seemed  wonderfully  well  informed  in  regard 
to  the  spirit  of  the  Russian  anarchists  and  declared 
that  the  most  dangerous  moment  for  them  would 
be  during  the  explosion  of  this  selfsame  revolu- 
tion the  possibilities  of  which  they  were  discussing. 
He  believed  that  the  first  government  to  take  up 
the  inheritance  of  the  Romanoffs  would  be  one  in 
which  the  Cadet  or  Democratic  element  would  be 
in  a  majority.  This  party,  of  course,  was  not  at 
all  favorable  to  the  program  dear  to  Lenine  and 
his  supporters.  Therefore  it  would  have  to  be 
overthrown,  and  large  sums  of  money  would  be 
necessary.  Mr.  Barker  agreed  to  this  and  it  was 
settled  that  he  was  to  remain  in  close  touch  with 
Lenine  and  his  friends  in  Petrograd.  When  Le- 
nine was  asked  who  these  friends  were,  he  men- 
tioned a  certain  Antonoff,  a  lawyer  called  Koz- 
lovsky  and,  to  Captain  Rustenberg's  intense  sur- 

i86 


LENINE  AND  HIS  FRIENDS 

prise,  Madame  Soumentay  and  Adolph  Joffe. 
He  recommended  the  last  as  one  of  his  most 
trusted  lieutenants  on  whom  he  could  absolutely 
depend  and  rely. 

It  was  settled  further  that  as  soon  as  his  pres- 
ence in  Russia  was  required  and  considered  ad- 
visable, Lenine  himself  was  to  receive  a  safe  con- 
duct from  the  German  government  allowing  him 
to  travel  to  Petrograd  through  German  territory 
and  money  to  permit  him  to  make  the  journey. 
Mr.  Barker  accepted  all  the  conditions  and  the 
captain  could  not  help  wondering  as  he  listened 
to  this  bargaining  who  was  deceiving  the  other. 
Certainly  Lenine  never  meant  to  become  the  tool 
of  the  German  Intelligence  Department,  which  he 
had  surely  realized  by  this  time  was  the  real  insti- 
tution with  which  he  was  negotiating.  Most  un- 
doubtedly Mr.  Barker  did  not  mean  to  promise 
the  German  government's  money  with  the  sole  aim 
of  fomenting  a  general  revolution  of  the  world 
in  which  Germany  would  participate  perforce. 
Neither  of  the  two  could  be  the  other's  dupe; 
it  remained  to  be  seen  who  would  get  the  better  of 
the  dirty  bargain  which  both  seemed  so  delighted 
to  have  the  opportunity  of  making. 

As  Mr.  Barker  took  leave  of  Lenine  with  the 
182 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

understanding  that  they  were  to  meet  again  on  the 
next  day,  the  anarchist  suddenly  stopped  the  Ger- 
man agent. 

"  All  this  is  very  well,"  he  said,  "  but  before 
we  proceed  any  further  I  must  warn  you  that  I 
have  a  friend  and  companion  without  whom  I  can 
decide  nothing  and  whom  I  must  consult.  He  is 
at  present  in  America,  and  you  must  f.nd  means 
for  me  to  communicate  with  him.  Perhaps  you 
have  heard  his  name;  it  is  Leon  Trotzky." 

Neither  Barker  nor  his  colleague  made  a  sign 
that  would  have  betrayed  them,  but  they  looked 
at  each  other  significantly.  Leon  Trotzky  was 
considered  by  the  German  Intelligence  Depart- 
ment one  of  its  most  useful  and  cunning,  though 
trusted,  agents.  To  find  him  in  collusion  with 
Lenine  was  certainly  a  revelation. 

When  Lenine  passed  through  Sweden  on  his 
way  to  Russia  immediately  after  the  Revolution, 
in  response  to  the  call  of  the  German  government, 
I  happened  to  meet  him  at  the  home  of  a  Russian 
who  had  made  his  home  in  Stockholm  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war.  My  host  was  not  a  Bol- 
shevik himself,  but  he  was  in  close  relations  with 
the  leaders  of  that  movement  and  with  the  revo- 
lutionary parties  in   Russia   In  general.     Lenine 

i88 


LENINE  AND  HIS  FRIENDS 

was  looking  forward  to  his  return  with  consider- 
able impatience,  and  he  related  to  us  the  substance 
of  the  conversation  which  I  have  just  reproduced 
in  almost  the  same  terms  in  which  Captain  Rus- 
tenberg  had  communicated  it  to  me.  Lenine 
never  made  a  secret  of  the  fact  that  he  had  been 
encouraged  by  the  German  government  in  his  an- 
archistic designs  on  Russia  and  spoke  openly  of 
the  financial  help  the  Germans  had  given  him  and 
without  which  he  would  have  been  unable  to 
undertake  the  long  journey  from  Zurich  to  Petro- 
grad.  Lenine  was  still  a  poor  man,  though  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  that  is  not  the  case  to-day. 
He  frankly  owned  that  he  had  applied  to  the 
German  Legation  in  Switzerland  for  funds,  which 
were  immediately  handed  to  him.  One  of  the 
persons  in  the  room  during  our  conversation  asked 
Lenine  whether  he  was  not  ashamed  to  accept 
money  from  the  enemies  of  his  country.  The  an- 
archist answered  this  remark  by  saying  that  he  did 
not  feel  ashamed  because  now  that  socialism  was 
to  become  supreme  the  barriers  which  divide  one 
nation  from  another  would  fall  and  that  all  hu- 
manity would  become  united  in  the  supreme  at- 
tempt to  deliver  the  world  from  the  trammels  of 
superstition  and  autocracy  and  to  establish  the 
rule  of  the  people  in  every  country.     For  his  part 

189 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

he  was  willing  to  accept  the  help  of  anybody  who 
would  aid  him,  no  matter  to  what  race  he  be- 
longed. Then  some  one  ventured  the  remark  that 
one  could  not  really  consider  the  Germans  civi- 
lized beings  in  view  of  the  havoc  and  destruction 
of  which  they  had  been  guilty.  As  a  proof  he 
mentioned  the  destruction  of  Rheims  Cathedral. 
Lenine  looked  at  him  for  a  moment  and  then  re- 
plied with  an  accent  which  I  shall  never  be  able  to 
forget : 

"  Rheims  Cathedral  was  but  a  monument  of  the 
times  when  the  poor  were  oppressed  by  the  rich, 
and  when  we  look  upon  it  from  that  point  of  view 
the  Germans  were  quite  right  to  shell  and  de- 
stroy it." 

And  this  is  the  man  who  as  this  is  written  is 
supposed  to  control  the  destinies  of  Russia. 
Verily  the  German  government  knew  what  it  was 
doing  on  the  day  when  it  contrived  to  secure  his 
help  in  its  designs  against  the  great  country  it 
meant  to  appropriate  for  its  own  use  and  purposes. 


190 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

CAPTAIN    RUSTENBERG   IS    SENT   TO   AMERICA 

After  his  conference  with  Lenine,  Captain 
Rustenberg  returned  to  Berlin  and  reported  to 
his  chiefs  all  the  details  of  the  transaction.  The 
"  Professor  "  at  once  told  him  that  he  would  re- 
quire him  to  go  to  the  United  States  and  interview 
Trotzky.  The  captain  was  to  a  certain  extent 
surprised  to  find  Trotzky  so  closely  connected  with 
Lenine,  and  especially  at  the  fact  that  Lenine  had 
never  mentioned  the  circumstance  to  him.  As  I 
have  already  said,  Trotzky  had  been  working  for 
the  Germans  for  years.  He  was  considered  a 
most  useful  and  indeed  invaluable  agent,  but  some 
of  the  chiefs  in  the  Secret  Service,  including  the 
"  Professor,"  never  trusted  him  and  for  a  long 
time  had  suspected  him  of  playing  a  double  game. 
He  evidently,  and  this  now  became  quite  clear, 
had  been  trying  to  use  Germany  in  order  to  obtain 
the  money  necessary  for  schemes  of  his  own  which 
might  or  might  not  be  in  accord  with  German  in- 
terests.    The  captain  wondered  whether  he  had 

191 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

ever  confided  to  Lenine  his  connection  with  the 
German  Intelligence  Department.  Mr.  Barker 
did  not  think  that  this  could  have  been  the  case 
and  the  captain  shared  this  opinion;  they  both 
believed  that  the  two  anarchists  had  secrets  from 
each  other  and  might,  therefore,  at  a  certain  mo- 
ment be  induced  to  act  separately  from  one  an- 
other. This  fact  was  to  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion, for  in  the  case  of  Germany  really  fomenting 
a  revolution  or  rebellion  against  the  Czar,  it  would 
be  to  her  advantage  to  have  the  leaders  spying 
upon  each  other  and  thus  furnishing  Germany  with 
precious  indications  as  to  what  was  really  going  on 
in  Russian  anarchist  circles,  which  in  spite  of  her 
efforts  had  always  remained  a  mystery  to  her.  It 
was  decided  with  the  "  Professor  "  that  a  careful 
watch  should  be  kept  on  the  relations  between 
Lenine  and  Trotzky,  but  that  neither  of  them 
should  be  allowed  to  discover  that  this  was  the 
case. 

Captain  Rustenberg  felt  no  great  enthusiasm 
for  the  proposed  trip  to  America.  Germany's  re- 
lations with  the  United  States  government  were 
already  strained  to  the  utmost  by  the  Lusitania 
affair,  and  there  was  reason  to  fear  that  a  strict 
control  of  foreigners  already  existed  in  the  land 
of  Uncle  Sam.     It  would  not  do  for  a  Dane  — 

192 


SENT  TO  AMERICA 

Captain  Rustenberg  was  to  travel  under  a  Danish 
passport  —  to  be  caught  in  any  intercourse  with 
Russian  anarchists,  and  yet  it  was  among  Russian 
anarchists  that  the  captain's  steps  were  bound  to 
carry  him  if  he  wished  to  find  an  opportunity  of 
transmitting  to  Mr.  Trotzky,  or  rather  to  Mr. 
Braunstein,  the  messages  with  which  Lenine  had 
entrusted  him. 

The  captain  had  suggested  that  he  be  sent  to 
New  York  with  a  Russian  passport,  in  which  he 
should  be  described  as  a  Russian  Jew,  but  his  chiefs 
did  not  accept  the  idea  as  they  did  not  think  he 
could  be  taken  for  one  by  any  means,  as  his  type 
was  essentially  that  of  an  inhabitant  of  the  north- 
ern countries  of  Europe.  This  fact  would  only 
arouse  suspicion  about  the  reasons  which  had  in- 
duced him  to  cross  the  ocean  at  a  time  when  the 
enterprise  was  anything  but  a  pleasure.  The  cap- 
tain had  to  acknowledge  that  their  reasoning  was 
correct  and  accept  the  inevitable.  So  one  fine 
summer  morning  in  the  year  191 6  he  boarded  the 
Danish  steamer  Frederick  Fill,  which  later  on 
became  historic  by  carrying  back  to  Europe  Count 
Bernstorff  after  the  rupture  of  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  Germany,  and  started  his 
journey  to  New  York.  The  passage  was  quiet 
and  uneventful,  without  the  shadow  of  a  subma- 

193 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

rinc.  Of  course  the  captain  kept  much  to  himself 
and  avoided  the  other  passengers,  giving  sea  sick- 
ness as  an  excuse  for  remaining  secluded  In  his 
cabin.  The  ship  was  subjected  to  a  polite  but 
thorough  examination  In  Halifax  by  the  English 
authorities,  but  nothing  suspicious  was  discovered 
and  the  ship  was  allowed  to  proceed  unmolested. 

Captain  Rustenberg  went  to  the  Waldorf- 
Astoria  in  New  York  with  the  Idea  that  the  best 
thing  for  him  to  do  was  to  act  as  though  he  had 
no  reason  to  hide  from  the  eyes  of  the  world,  or 
rather  from  the  American  police.  He  was  very 
careful  with  regard  to  his  movements  for  a  few 
days  so  as  to  ascertain  whether  he  was  watched  or 
not,  and  at  last  when  he  felt  that  he  was  suffi- 
ciently at  home  in  the  great  city  to  be  able  to  move 
about  freely,  he  started  on  a  voyage  of  discovery 
in  the  East  Side  to  find  Leon  Trotzky. 

The  captain  found  him  In  the  offices  of  a  small 
Jewish  paper,  where  he  was  employed  as  a  re- 
porter, and  made  himself  known  to  him,  not  by  his 
own  name,  of  course,  but  by  the  name  of  one  of 
the  German  agents  with  whom  Trotzky  had  been 
in  relations  In  Berlin.  Trotzky  at  first  seemed 
suspicious,  and  It  was  only  after  the  captain  had 
mentioned  Lenine  and  had  delivered  the  messages 
entrusted  to  him,  that  the  Jewish  journalist  unbent 

194 


SENT  TO  AMERICA 

and  became  confidential  to  the  extent  of  saying 
that  loulianoff,  as  he  always  called  Lenine,  was 
far  too  much  of  an  idealist,  a  fact  which  could 
hardly  have  been  reconciled  with  some  of  the 
statements  the  Same  loulianoff  had  made  to  the 
captain.  Trotzky  also  said  that  the  coming  Rus- 
sian Revolution,  about  which  he  spoke  with  abso- 
lute certainty,  could  only  succeed,  if  it  were  han- 
dled without  gloves  and  if  the  people  made  up 
their  minds  to  destroy  all  who  tried  to  oppose 
them. 

Captain  Rustenberg  told  me  that  during  the 
many  years  in  which  his  duties  brought  him  in  con- 
tact with  so  many  different  people  had  he  ever  met 
an  individual  so  thoroughly  repulsive  as  Trotzky. 
To  look  at  him  was  immediately  to  understand 
anti-Semitism  and  to  feel  more  than  tempted  to 
seize  this  monstrous  representative  of  the  Hebrew 
race  and  give  him  a  sound  smacking.  He  dis- 
gusted one  physically  before  there  had  been  an 
opportunity  of  exchanging  two  words  with  him. 
Dirty,  unkempt,  with  coal  black  nails,  a  ragged 
collar,  and  hair  which  suggested  that  it  had  not 
been  combed  for  a  year,  he  was  altogether  dis- 
reputable in  appearance,  and  it  seemed  almost 
ridiculous  to  think  that  such  a  man  could  ever  exer- 
cise any  influence  either  on  the  masses  or  on  indi- 

195 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

viduals.  But  when  he  began  to  talk  this  impres- 
sion disappeared  and  was  replaced  by  an  intense 
dread  at  the  thought  that  such  a  creature  might 
try  to  force  through  his  ideas  of  general  destruc- 
tion of  what  constitutes  our  ideas  of  civilized  so- 
ciety. 

Trotzky  called  to  mind  that  hideous  monster, 
which  Taine  mentioned  in  his  great  work  on  the 
French  Revolution,  the  crocodile  hidden  away 
in  the  ancient  Egyptian  temples  by  purple  curtains 
from  the  masses  which  worshipped  it.  Trotzky 
was  a  crocodile  in  a  way,  inasmuch  as  all  his 
thoughts  were  concentrated  on  one  point  —  how 
best  to  encompass  the  complete  annihilation  of 
everything  in  the  world  which  savored  of  govern- 
ment by  a  few  individuals  rather  than  by  a  mob. 
He  was  a  man  fit  to  become  the  idol  of  a  mob, 
especially  of  an  unruly  one,  and  unless  the  ob- 
server was  sorely  mistaken,  he  was  also  a  creature 
who  would  understand  how  to  turn  to  his  personal 
advantage  all  the  unhealthy  passions  he  was  so 
eager  to  arouse.  He  spoke  of  Lenine  with  a  mix- 
ture of  contempt  and  affection,  and  remarked  that 
he  was  anything  but  a  strong  man.  Captain  Rus- 
tenberg  asked  him  what  he  meant  by  strong,  and 
Trotzky  replied  at  once  that  he  considered  a  man 
strong  who  never  hesitated  at  the  shedding  of 

196 


SENT  TO  AMERICA 

blood  or  breaking  the  law.  He  evidently  thought 
both  these  things  equally  unimportant. 

Trotzky  seemed  absolutely  prepared  for  the  out- 
break of  a  great  anarchist  movement  in  Russia 
and  only  hoped  that  it  might  be  delayed  until  after 
the  war.  He  was  frank  in  his  reasons.  The  fall 
of  the  Romanoffs  would  not  immediately  bring  his, 
the  anarchist,  party  to  power.  The  government 
of  the  Czar  could  only  be  supplanted  by  a  Cadet 
administration,  and  Trotzky  seemed  to  hate  the 
Cadets  just  as  much,  if  not  more,  than  he  hated 
the  Monarchists.  Perhaps  this  was  because  he 
realized  that  it  would  be  far  more  difficult  to  get 
rid  of  the  Cadets  than  of  the  Monarchists,  and 
that  an  absolutely  Red  administration  had  no 
chance  of  coming  to  the  front  and  firmly  establish- 
ing its  hold  on  the  country,  during  the  course  of 
the  war.  At  this  point  Captain  Rustenberg  sug- 
gested that  perhaps  this  could  be  arranged  by  the 
judicious  expenditure  of  rather  large  sums  of 
money.  Trotzky  thought  for  a  moment  and  then 
exclaimed  energetically : 

"  Yes,  money  might  do  a  lot,  but  this  money 
would  have  to  be  given  unconditionally  and  its 
use  remain  uncontrolled,  and  who  do  you  think 
would  ever  agree  to  such  conditions? 

"  Of  course,"  he  went  on,  "  in  case  of  a  revolu- 

197 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

tion,  wc  ought  to  be  able  to  start  at  once  our 
propaganda  for  a  government  by  the  people  and 
the  people  alone,  together  with  a  demand  for  the 
immediate  conclusion  of  a  peace  which  would 
allow  the  great  work  of  a  general  reform  of  the 
world  to  begin  and  proceed.  I  hope  that  Russia 
will  prove  an  example  in  this  respect  to  other  na- 
tions by  showing  them  that  it  is  possible  for  a 
state  to  exist  on  purely  socialistic  principles  and 
an  equal  division  of  property.  This  is  something 
which  ought  to  appeal,  and  which  will  appeal,  to 
the  masses.  And  remember  that  it  is  the  masses 
who  must  rule  in  the  end  and  not  the  educated  and 
what  you  call  the  cultured  classes.  Education 
ought  not  to  be  the  privilege  of  a  few,  and  if  it  is 
impossible  for  it  to  become  universal  in  a  few 
months,  it  is  perhaps  just  as  well  to  suppress  it 
altogether  among  the  men  in  charge  of  the  inter- 
ests of  their  country.  I  do  not  see  why  a  common 
peasant  cannot  become  a  Minister  or  why  his 
patriotism  would  not  be  sufficient  to  carry  him 
through  the  difficulties  of  his  position." 

The  captain  ventured  to  suggest  that  perhaps 
in  other  countries  Ministers  would  not  care  to  dis- 
cuss affairs  with  ignorant  people,  but  this  remark 
seemed  to  exasperate  Trotzky,  who  exclaimed  vio- 
lently that  if  this  were  the  case  then  the  sooner 

198 


SENT  TO  AMERICA 

other  countries  were  compelled  by  force  to  rally 
themselves  to  the  principles  of  an  anarchist  state 
the  better  it  would  be  for  the  world.  The  man 
seemed  positively  to  take  pleasure  in  the  thought 
of  the  possible  destruction  of  his  opponents.  The 
captain  tried  to  bring  him  around  to  a  sensible 
view  of  the  present  situation,  and  began  to  discuss 
with  him  the  conditions  under  which  he  and  his 
friends  would  eventually  lend  Germany  their  sup- 
port in  case  a  revolution  in  Russia  should  bring 
them  to  the  front.  He  asked  the  Jew  whether  in 
case  this  happened  Germany  could  rely  on  him  to 
conclude  an  immediate  peace.  Trotzky  looked  at 
the  captain  and  said  with  an  accent  which  he  told 
me  he  could  never  forget,  "  Yes,  if  you  make  it 
worth  my  while." 

After  this  things  were  easy  and  the  bargain  was 
soon  concluded.  Trotzky  was  to  return  to  Russia 
with  money  which  Germany  promised  to  supply 
him  as  soon  as  it  was  considered  that  it  was  the 
opportune  moment  for  him  to  do  so.  He  was  to 
act  in  perfect  accord  with  Lenine  and  not  to  allow 
the  latter  to  air  too  much  his  idealistic  views  in 
the  matter  of  government,  and,  finally,  he  was  to 
put  Germany  in  touch  with  those  of  his  followers 
in  Russia  and  Finland  as  well,  whom  he  considered 
as  likely  to  enter  entirely  into  his  views.     Trotzky 

199 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

immediately  mentioned  a  few  names,  all  Jews,  it 
goes  without  saying.  The  captain  already  knew 
many  of  the  names,  but  some  he  had  never  heard 
of.  They  arranged  a  means  of  communication 
through  the  German  Embassy  and  other  channels. 
When  the  captain  at  last  left  the  Hebrew  dema- 
gogue, it  was  with  the  conviction  that  if  Germany 
had  means  at  Headquarters  to  keep  Trotzky  under 
her  thumb  and  dependent  upon  her,  she  would 
have  in  him  the  most  marvellous  instrument  of 
destruction  that  had  ever  existed  and  that  had 
ever  been  hurled  by  a  nation  at  the  head  of  another 
with  which  it  was  at  war. 


200 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE    RUSSIAN   REVOLUTION 

Captain  Rustenberg  was  not  sorry  to  leave 
America,  and  as  soon  as  he  came  to  terms  with 
Trotzky  he  took  passage  on  a  Scandinavian 
steamer  and  returned  home.  During  the  time  he 
was  in  the  United  States  he  had  never  felt  at  ease 
and  was  constantly  under  the  apprehension  that  by 
some  mischance  or  other  the  reason  for  his  journey 
to  New  York  would  be  discovered.  Once  or  twice 
he  fancied  that  he  was  being  shadowed  by  Secret 
Service  men  and  this  idea  did  not  add  to  his  com- 
fort. He  found  that  after  all  the  "  Yankees " 
were  extremely  smart  people,  and  knowing  by  ex- 
perience how  easy  it  was,  if  only  one  cared  to  do 
so,  to  ascertain  what  a  foreigner  was  doing,  he 
did  not  feel  sure  that  in  spite  of  his  precautions 
he  had  not  been  followed  during  one  of  the  many 
visits  he  had  paid  to  the  offices  of  the  small  Yid- 
dish newspaper  where  Trotzky  made  his  head- 
quarters. In  addition,  he  was  by  no  means  certain 
that  Trotzky  had  not  himself  given  information 

20I 


.     THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

about  him.  This  would  have  been  in  full  accord 
with  his  character,  and  certainly  it  would  not 
have  been  in  disagreement  with  his  notions  of 
morality. 

When  Captain  Rustenberg  reached  Berlin  he  at 
once  made  a  detailed  report  of  the  arrangements 
which  he  had  made  with  the  sinister  person  who 
later  on  was  to  acquire  such  notoriety  in  Russia 
and  in  Europe  as  well.  The  "  Professor  "  de- 
clared himself  completely  satisfied  with  all  the  cap- 
tain had  done,  and  after  he  had  taken  profuse 
notes  from  the  written  statement  of  the  captain, 
he  sent  him  to  Colonel  X.,  who,  in  his  turn,  dis- 
played considerable  interest  in  the  story.  A  little 
later  —  that  is,  during  the  fall  of  191 6  —  several 
Russian  Jews  appeared  in  Berlin,  forwarded  there 
by  the  German  Legation  at  Stockholm.  There 
occurred  at  this  time  the  famous  incident  of  the 
Protopopoff  interview  with  Mr.  Warburg,  the 
banker  who  had  been  sent  especially  by  the  Ger- 
man Foreign  Office  to  meet  him.  After  the  con- 
versation between  them.  Captain  Rustenberg 
heard  from  a  source  he  knew  to  be  perfectly  reli- 
able, that  a  large  sum  of  money  was  placed 
through  the  intermediary  of  the  Nya  Bank  in 
Stockholm  to  the  credit  of  M.  Sturmer,  then  Rus- 
sian Prime  Minister,  and  to  that  of  his  secretary 
,  202 


THE  RUSSIAN  REVOLUTION 

and  fides  Achates  M.  Manassovitch-Maniuloff. 
The  latter  I  have  mentioned  before  as  one  of  the 
greatest  scoundrels  who  ever  walked  the  earth  and 
also  as  one  of  the  German  secret  agents  in  official 
circles  in  Petrograd.  Whether  this  money  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  appointment  of  M.  Pro- 
topopoff  as  Minister  for  Home  Affairs,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  say,  but  that  it  may  have  contributed  to  it  is 
quite  possible,  if  not  probable. 

The  Protopopoff  incident  was  followed  by  sev- 
eral conferences  at  a  hotel  in  Malmo,  a  Swedish 
town  on  the  Danish  frontier,  between  Herr  Di- 
rector Steinwachs  himself  and  some  of  these  Rus- 
sian Jews  already  mentioned  as  having  been  sud- 
denly seized  with  a  desire  for  travel  which  they 
had  never  displayed  before.  Among  them  was  a 
man  named  Kameneff,  whose  name  was  found  later 
on  among  the  signatures  at  the  bottom  of  the 
treaty  of  Brest-Litovsk,  and  who  introduced  him- 
self as  the  confidential  friend  of  both  Lenine  and 
Trotzky.  This  Kameneff  was  another  repulsive 
Jew,  but  undoubtedly  an  intelligent  creature  whose 
only  principle  was  to  enrich  himself  at  any  price 
and  in  the  shortest  of  times.  He  was  eager  for 
action,  because  he  realized  that  it  was  only  through 
some  upheaval  or  other  that  he  would  be  enabled 
to  lay  his  greedy  hands  on  the  Russian  public  ex-" 

203 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

chequer.  Captain  Rustenberg  heard  afterwards 
that  when  it  came  to  the  partition  of  the  milHons 
which  Germany  paid  for  the  betrayal  of  Russia  to 
the  Bolsheviks  Kameneff  was  the  man  who  got 
the  lion's  share.  Partly  thanks  to  the  circum- 
stance that  when  Lenine  was  compelled  to  fly  from 
Petrograd  and  take  refuge  in  Finland  for  a  short 
time,  Kameneff  contrived  to  work  on  the  feelings 
of  alarm  of  Madame  Lenine  and  persuade  her  to 
confide  the  money  she  had  in  the  house,  something 
like  three  million  rubles,  to  his  care.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  Kameneff  entirely  forgot  to  return 
these  millions  to  her  when  Lenine  came  back. 
But  then  this  did  not  matter,  for  the  latter  had  at 
his  disposal  all  the  public  institutions,  the  Treas- 
ury and  the  private  banks  in  Russia  and  was  able 
to  appropriate  to  his  personal  use  as  much  money 
as  he  liked,  or  rather  as  his  wife  liked,  because  It 
was  she  who  became  her  husband's  business  agent. 
This  same  Kameneff  tried  a  similar  trick  on 
Trotzky,  but  the  latter  was  far  too  experienced  to 
yield  to  his  persuasions  and,  feeling  convinced  that 
the  best  way  to  keep  a  secret  is  in  not  telling  it  to 
any  one,  he  quietly  conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety 
abroad  sufficient  cash  to  be  assured  of  a  pleasant 
existence  to  the  end  of  his  days.  Though  Trotzky 
awarded  a  good  deal  of  confidence  to  Kameneff, 

204 


THE  RUSSIAN  REVOLUTION 

he  took  great  care  not  to  allow  the  latter  to  handle 
his  possessions  even  in  hours  of  emergency. 

It  was  Kameneff  who  informed  Herr  Steinwachs 
of  the  imminence  of  a  revolution  in  Russia,  which 
he  assured  him  would  be  a  Palace  Revolution 
headed  by  the  aristocracy  of  the  country  and  sup- 
ported by  the  Cadets  and  liberal  parties,  all  of 
whom,  he  asserted,  were  hand  in  glove  with  the 
Allies  and  committed  to  a  war  to  the  end  with 
Germany.  Herr  Steinwachs  had  other  reasons, 
aside  from  all  that  the  Russian  anarchist  told  him, 
to  think  that  this  information  was  exact.  It  came 
about  at  last  that  having  done  its  best  to  bring 
about  the  fall  of  Nicholas  II,  the  German  gov- 
ernment supported  him  during  the  last  weeks  of 
his  sad  reign,  not  out  of  a  feeling  of  interest  in 
his  fate,  but  because  it  apprehended  that  a  Cadet 
administration  would  commit  itself  to  an  aggres- 
sive policy  from  which  it  could  not  draw  back  and 
refuse  even  to  think  of  opening  peace  negotiations. 
At  one  moment  the  Czar  had  been  inclined  to 
begin  negotiations  for  peace.  If  only  from  an  aca- 
demic point  of  view. 

Things  came  to  a  climax  In  Petrograd  at  Christ- 
mas, 19 1 6.  The  assassination  of  the  famous  Ras- 
putin opened  the  way  for  the  rebellion  which  was 
to  bring  about  the  publication  of  the  Manifest 

205 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

of  Pskov  and  the  abdication  of  the  Russian  Sov- 
ereign. As  Lenine  and  Trotzky  had  prophesied, 
the  first  government  in  supreme  power  after  the 
fall  of  the  Romanoffs  was  composed  almost  com- 
pletely of  Cadets,  who  declared  themselves  solidly 
with  the  Allies  and  pompously  and  solemnly  an- 
nounced to  the  world  their  intention  of  going  on 
with  the  war  as  energetically  as  possible.  For  a 
brief  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  whole  country  was 
about  to  rally  around  the  new  administration,  and 
it  is  very  likely  that  it  would  have  done  so,  had  it 
been  composed  of  strong  men  who  knew  what  they 
wanted  and  had  a  program  susceptible  of  being 
put  into  operation.  Fortunately  for  Germany  this 
was  far  from  being  the  case,  and  the  government 
had  not  lasted  long  before  the  difficulties  of  the 
situation  became  so  acute  that  it  was  no  longer 
possible  to  arrest  the  rising  tide  of  anarchy  which, 
in  the  meantime,  had  started  the  propaganda  to 
which  both  Lenine  and  Trotzky  had  alluded  in 
their  conversations  with  Captain  Rustenberg. 

At  this  juncture  the  captain  was  sent  to  Petro- 
grad  once  more.  It  was  now  far  easier  to  cross 
the  frontier  than  had  been  the  case  during  the 
reign  of  Nicholas  II,  and  the  captain  had  no  diffi- 
culty whatever  in  making  his  way  to  the  Russian 
capital.     There  was,  it  is  true,  a  British  control 

206 


THE  RUSSIAN  REVOLUTION 

at  Torneo,  but  before  one  reached  that  place,  in  a 
spot  situated  between  the  Swedish  town  of  Hapa- 
randa  and  the  first  Russian  station  one  generally 
found  sentries  who  for  a  small  consideration 
winked  at  any  traveler  whose  papers  were  not  in 
perfect  order.  They  would  also  show  the  stranger 
a  conveyance  of  some  kind,  a  sledge  or  a  cart, 
which  was  usually  stationed  near,  and  the  driver 
would  undertake  to  land  his  fare  at  some  small 
distant  station  where  one  could  board  the  train 
going  to  Petrograd  without  the  slightest  difficulty. 
Indeed,  a  fortnight  or  so  after  the  Revolution,  a 
special  agency  was  started  in  Stockholm  under  the 
direction  of  Russian  anarchists  who  made  it  their 
business  to  deliver  safe  conducts  to  people  who 
wanted  to  go  to  Petrograd,  and  who  would  not 
have  been  able  to  obtain  regular  passports  from 
the  legal  authorities. 

On  the  day  Captain  Rustenberg  crossed  the  bor- 
der and  made  his  way  into  Finland,  he  was  more 
than  surprised  to  find  awaiting  him  on  the  spot 
where  he  had  been  told  he  would  find  a  driver 
and  horses  which  were  to  carry  him  to  the  next 
railroad  station,  his  old  friend  M.  Joffe,  who  wel- 
comed him  with  a  beaming  countenance  and  any 
amount  of  smiles.  Joffe  had  quite  forgotten  the 
former  obsequiousness  of  his  manners  and  seemed 

207 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

entirely  at  home  in  the  new  Russia  with  which  the 
captain  was  about  to  become  acquainted.  More 
than  that  he  appeared  suddenly  to  have  become  an 
important  personage  in  this  topsy-turvy  country 
and  he  treated  the  officials,  or  at  least  such  of  them 
as  still  existed,  with  the  same  disdain  which  Cap- 
tain Rustenberg  had  seen  applied  to  this  same 
Jew  by  other  people  some  two  years  before. 

M.  Joffe  had  also  been  in  Berlin  of  late,  and  to 
the  captain's  surprise  he  brought  instructions  from 
Headquarters  dated  a  few  days  after  the  captain's 
departure.  Joffe  was  full  of  news  and  declared 
that  now  it  would  be  possible  to  begin  to  work  in 
all  earnestness  towards  the  conclusion  of  a  reason- 
able peace  of  a  nature  to  satisfy  everybody  and 
especially  the  party  to  which  he  belonged. 

Petrograd  was  an  absolute  chaos,  and  though 
anarchy  had  not  yet  become  an  established  fact,  it 
was  easy  to  see  that  it  was  only  a  question  of  time 
before  it  would  sweep  away  the  weak  government 
which  had  taken  on  itself  the  responsibility  of 
bringing  order  into  the  ruin  left  by  the  Roman- 
offs. People  were  talking  a  good  deal  about 
Kerensky,  the  young  advocate  with  whom  Captain 
Rustenberg  had  been  in  communication  before  the 
war,  but  though  he  still  enjoyed  considerable  pres- 
tige and  was  even  made  a  hero  by  certain  people, 

208 


C*fyright,  by   Lndtrwood  and  L'nderzcoitd,  S.    Y. 

General  Korniloff,  who  led  the  revolt  ao;ainst  Kerensky 


THE  RUSSIAN  REVOLUTION 

mostly  foreign  journalists,  it  was  easy  to  see  that 
this  prestige  could  not  be  maintained  for  any 
length  of  time  and  that  the  man  was  far  too  shal- 
low to  make  use  of  the  great  opportunities  within 
his  grasp.  Besides,  he  was  compromised  to  a 
considerable  extent  with  the  extreme  anarchists, 
and  like  many  of  them  his  head  was  turned  in  an 
incredibly  short  time  by  the  sudden  change  in  his 
fortunes. 

Kerensky  was  what  the  French  call  a  jouisseur, 
and  when  he  found  himself  able  to  take  up  his 
abode  in  the  rooms  and  even  in  the  bed  formerly 
occupied  by  the  Czar  of  All  the  Russias  and  to 
take  the  latter's  place  on  different  occasions,  he 
was  so  overpowered  by  the  prospects  which  this 
transformation  in  his  social  position  had  opened 
to  him  that  he  lost  his  head  and  compromised  his 
colleagues  and  the  Revolution  which  had  made  him 
the  most  important  personage  in  Russia.  His 
reign,  for  one  must  really  call  his  leadership  that, 
was  ephemeral,  but  brief  as  it  was  it  did  an  im- 
mense amount  of  harm  to  the  country,  the  neces- 
sities of  which  he  never  understood.  Germany 
tried  to  approach  him  when  he  became  Dictator, 
but  at  the  moment  he  believed  himself  so  strong 
that  he  declined  the  help  she  offered  him.  A  few 
months  later  it  was  his  turn  to  seek  aid  and  in  a 

209 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

secret  interview  with  Captain  Rustenberg  in  Au- 
gust, 19 1 7,  he  implored  the  latter  to  convey  to 
Berlin  his  readiness  to  open  peace  negotiations  with 
the  Central  Powers.  But  by  that  time  Germany 
recognized  his  weakness  and  declined  to  meet  his 
views.  He  was  no  longer  the  man  of  the  hour, 
and  his  place  had  already  been  taken  by  Lenine, 
who  had  been  brought  from  Switzerland  in  the 
first  days  of  April  of  that  year,  and  by  Trotzky, 
who  had  joined  Lenine  in  the  following  June. 
Kerensky,  whom  Germany  at  one  time  would  have 
been  glad  to  employ,  was  no  longer  of  any  use  to 
her,  the  more  so  as  she  realized  that  the  day  was 
near  when  the  whole  of  what  was  once  the  Russian 
Empire  would  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  anarchists 
and  their  leaders.  Germany  knew  that  she  could 
always  control  these  leaders  in  the  sense  that  they 
would  not  dare  resist  any  orders  she  might  choose 
to  issue  to  them.  The  day  that  saw  the  return  to 
Petrograd  of  Lenine  and  Trotzky  settled  the  fate 
of  Russia,  just  as  much  as  the  abdication  of  Nich- 
olas II  settled  that  of  the  Romanoffs. 


210 


r 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE   RETURN   OF    LENINE 

Later  on  Captain  Rustenberg  had  the  opportu- 
nity to  ascertain  that  the  German  government 
telegraphed  to  Lenine  the  news  that  a  revolution 
had  broken  out  in  Russia  and  that  the  Czar  had 
abdicated  a  few  hours  after  the  event  had  taken 
place.  The  reply  of  the  Russian  anarchist  was 
characteristic  and  consisted  of  four  words,  "  When 
must  I  start?"  The  answer  arrived  the  next 
day.  It  was  also  brief,  and  merely  said,  "  Start 
as  soon  as  convenient  for  you." 

Lenine  was  not  a  man  to  let  the  grass  grow 
under  his  feet,  and  he  immediately  summoned  a 
meeting  of  the  Russian  anarchists  and  with  them 
elaborated  a  plan  of  action  which,  unfortunately 
for  his  compatriots,  he  was  to  put  into  execution  a 
few  months  later.  Then  he  repaired  to  the  Ger- 
man Legation  in  Berne  and  obtained  the  money 
required  for  his  journey  and  the  necessary  permis- 
sion to  cross  German  territory.     As  soon  as  he 

211 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

had  these  sinews  of  war  in  his  hands,  he  left  Swit- 
zerland, as  he  hoped,  forever. 

His  nearest  way  to  Petrograd  lay  through  Ber- 
lin and  Sweden.  Of  course  he  stopped  in  the 
German  capital,  where  he  had  several  interviews 
with  both  the  "  Professor  "  and  Herr  Steinwachs. 
The  former  did  not  take  at  all  kindly  to  Lenine 
and  made  no  secret  of  it.  For  one  thing  he  could 
never  understand  fanaticism  and  Lenine  posed  as 
a  fanatic.  Then  the  whole  personality  of  the  man 
inspired  him  with  distrust  and  even  repulsion. 
Whatever  the  "  Professor's  "  faults  he  was  a  sin- 
cere patriot  in  his  way,  and  he  could  not  tolerate 
treason  when  applied  to  one's  own  country.  He 
could  not  understand  the  subtleties  of  Lenine's 
mind,  and  the  fact  that  the  latter  accepted  money 
from  the  enemies  of  his  land  rendered  that  indi- 
vidual exceedingly  obnoxious  to  the  German,  But 
Herr  Steinwachs's  case  was  different.  Before 
everything  else  he  was  a  practical  man,  and  it  did 
not  matter  in  the  least  in  his  eyes  whether  those 
whom  he  employed  were  disreputable  or  not.  He 
considered  Lenine  an  admirable  instrument  of  de- 
moralization in  Russia,  and  as  such  he  welcomed 
him  and  was  ready  to  shake  hands  with  him  with- 
out the  least  compunction  or  qualm  of  conscience. 
The  only  thing  the  Director  cared  about  was  Le- 

212 


THE  RETURN  OF  LENINE 

nine's  ability  to  perform  all  that  was  expected  of 
him  or  that  he  had  promised. 

Lenine  was  far  more  clever  than  he  was  ever 
given  credit  for  and  he  understood  very  well  that 
for  the  moment  he  was  indispensable  to  the  people 
who  were  employing  him  for  their  own  purposes 
from  whom  alone  he  could  hope  to  obtain  the 
large  sums  of  money  which  he  required  for  his 
dirty  work.  While  he  was  in  Berlin  he  played  his 
game  admirably,  and  declared  himself  ready  to  try 
and  influence  public  opinion  in  Russia  and  to  direct 
it  towards  the  necessity  of  concluding  an  immedi- 
ate peace  with  the  Central  Powers.  Without  this 
peace  it  would  be  impossible  to  bring  Into  execu- 
tion the  vast  program  of  reforms  which  he  consid- 
ered indispensable  to  make  a  real  socialistic  state 
out  of  Russia,  in  which  everything  that  savored  of 
class  distinction  had  to  be  eliminated  carefully,  If 
possible  by  persuasion,  and,  If  Impossible  in  that 
way,  by  violence.  Therefore  he  proclaimed  him- 
self a  pacifist  and  promised  to  do  all  in  his  power 
to  compel  the  Russian  nation  to  uphold  him  In  his 
struggle  against  the  detested  and  detestable 
"  Bourgou,"  as  the  Russian  anarchists  called  the 
upper  classes. 

Lenine  had  paved  the  way  for  his  success  even 
before  he  set  foot  on  Russian  soil  by  calling  sev- 

2T3 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

eral  of  his  most  trusted  adherents  to  a  conference 
in  Stockholm,  where  he  spent  several  days  and 
where  he  contrived  to  frighten  by  his  wild  talk 
some  of  the  revolutionaries  who  had  come  to  meet 
him  there.  He  openly  avowed  his  understanding 
with  Germany,  which,  by  the  way,  did  not  please 
the  German  Intelligence  Department  at  all,  as  for 
many  reasons  it  would  have  preferred  not  to  have 
its  acquaintance  with  Lenine  become  an  open  fact 
so  soon,  Lenine  explained  the  understanding  by 
saying  that  real  socialism  did  not  mind  from  whom 
it  obtained  the  means  of  fighting  Its  battle,  pro- 
vided the  battle  was  fought.  After  that  it  would 
be  relatively  easy  to  get  rid  of  the  people  who  had 
furnished  the  weapons  needed  to  carry  the  strug- 
gle to  a  triumphant  issue.  In  this  appreciation  of 
the  situation  he  was  vastly  mistaken,  for  the  Ger- 
man Intelligence  Department  was  certainly  not  an 
institution  to  be  trifled  with  and  fully  meant  to  get 
the  pound  of  flesh  for  which  it  had  bargained. 

There  were  some  who  said,  and  still  say,  that 
Lenine  is  an  idealist,  and  that  he  is  honest  too. 
Lenine  is  neither  an  idealist  nor  an  honest  man. 
He  is  only  an  opportunist  and  an  ambitious,  a  per- 
sonally ambitious,  creature.  He  understands  well 
a  certain  class  of  Russians,  those  who  like  empty 
words  and  eloquent  speeches  and  who  never  look 

214 


THE  RETURN  OF  LENINE 

ahead  and  never  care  to  do  so.  He  also  under- 
stands the  rough  nature  of  the  Russian  peasant  — 
that  mougik  who  can  show  himself  at  times  the 
kindest  of  men  and  a  few  minutes  later  the  wildest 
and  most  cruel  of  individuals.  He  has  also  stud- 
ied with  great  care  that  fatal  agrarian  question 
which  has  been  at  the  bottom  of  all  the  revolu- 
tionary movements  in  Russia  and  for  which  there 
seems  to  be  no  solution  to  be  found  at  present. 
This  question  has  been  mismanaged  from  the  be- 
ginning and  dates  from  the  false  conception  the 
mougik  has  all  along  carried  of  the  situation  of 
the  large  landowner  ever  since  the  day  of  the 
emancipation  of  the  serfs  by  Alexander  II.  Le- 
nine  knew  fully  that  a  general  partition  of  all  the 
riches  of  the  nation  between  everybody  was  an 
impossibility,  yet  he  proclaimed  it  as  the  only  prin- 
ciple which  would  inspire  his  conduct  from  the 
first  moment  he  set  foot  on  Russian  soil,  though  he 
never  meant  to  carry  it  through.  What  he  aimed 
at  was  to  become  the  absolute  master  in  a  land 
which  he  believed  to  be  doomed  and  out  of  which 
he  only  hoped  to  save  sufficient  wreckage  to  be  able 
to  live  not  only  in  comfort  but  also  in  affluence  for 
the  rest  of  his  natural  life.  He  was  an  exciter  of 
the  passions  of  the  mob;  he  was  no  more  of  a  ruler 
than  Kerensky,  and  he  could  not  even  be  called  a 

215 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

leader  of  men,  though  he  knew  how  to  launch  them 
on  a  career  of  crime  and  plunder. 

He  promised  everything  that  was  required  of 
him  when  he  was  put  to  the  test.  He  must  be 
rendered  this  justice  —  he  did  not  deny  his  signa- 
ture, but  worked  faithfully  towards  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  work  he  had  been  set  to  perform. 
The  man  had  but  one  wish  and  desire  —  the  deter- 
mination to  finish  the  task  which  he  had  accepted 
himself  without  interference  from  any  one. 
When  Trotzky  joined  him,  Lenine  did  not  like  it 
at  all  at  first;  then  he  gradually  fell  under  the 
influence  of  this  human  cobra  and  at  last  became 
the  purveyor  of  the  scaffold  which  M.  Braunstein 
alone  would  not  perhaps  have  been  able  to  erect  in 
Petrograd  as  well  as  in  the  rest  of  Russia. 

What  Lenine  fully  understood  was  that  the 
army  and  its  martial  spirit  had  to  be  eliminated 
from  the  scene  before  he  could  try  to  apply  the 
pacifist  program  of  which  he  declared  himself  the 
partisan.  In  this  he  was  in  perfect  accord  with 
Kerensky,  with  whom  —  it  would  be  useless  for 
the  latter  to  deny  it  —  he  concluded  an  alliance 
from  the  very  first  day  of  his  arrival  in  Russia. 
Kerensky  was  compromised  both  with  the  anar- 
chist party  and  with  Germany.  He  had  listened 
to  overtures  which  the  German  Secret  Service  had 

2l6 


No  24. 


Prela  :  5  Ctm«a 


Aufruf  des  Zentralkomitees  der  Bolschewiki 

an  das 

Sozialistische  Proletariat  Deutschlands. 

Soldatan,  Arbeiter,  Arbeiterinnent 

In  Russlaiid  hal  das  Proletariat  die  politische  Macht  ergriffen;  die  4rbeiler  und  Soldaten  habcn 
uber  die  Regierung  der  Generale,  der  Junker  und  Kapitalisten  gesiegt.  .Noch  nijmals  ist  dem  Pro- 
letariat eine  so  grosse  Aufgabe  zugewiesen,  wie  in  diesem  Augenblick. 

Als  Gegner  des  Kapilalismus  und  aller  imperitlibtischen  Bestrebungcn  hat  die  proletarische  Regie- 
rung  Russlands  einen  allgeraeinen  Waffenslillsland,  xum  Zwecke  eines  auf  dein  Selbstbeslimmungi- 
recht  aller  Volker  benibeaden  Friedens  angeboten,  der  auf  alien  Seilen  Anneiionen  jeder  Art, 
ofFene  und  verschleierte,  ausschliesst. 

Ihr  aber  lebt  noch  unter  der  Fuchtel  einer  Junlerreglerung,  die,  um  fremde  Lander  zu  erobem, 
mit  Hitfe  dp»  Rpl^a^rHngszustandc?.  R'lch  zu  hun^emden  Sklaven  gemaeht  hat  und  Euch  ausbeutet 
bis  xum  tetzten  Blutstropfen. 

Soldaten,  Arbeiter,  Arbelterinnenl 

An  Euch  richtet  sich  der  Ruf  des  roten  Russlands.  Ihr,  denen  in  die  Augen  das  Gespcnst  des 
vierten  Winterfeldzugs  schaut,  Ihr,  nach  deren  Sohnen.  Valern  und  Brudera  es  die  eisige  Hand  aus- 
streckt,  Ihr  habt  jetztdas  Wort. 

Um  Eure  Lebensinteressen ,  urn  Euer  Blut  geht  es.  Wenn  Ihr  Euch  uns  niclit  anschliesst,  dann 
werden  die  Junker  und  Kapitalislen  Euch  so  lange  von  einem  Kriog!>fetd  aufs  andere  schleppen,  bis 
Ihr  verblutet.  Schliesst  Euch  der  russiscken  Revolution  an!  Nicht  zu  Svmpalhiekund- 
gebungen ,  zum  Kampf  rufen  wir  Euch  auf. 

Sleht  auf! 

Geht  auf  die  Strasset 

Lasst  die  Fabriken  stehen! 

Es  darf  keinen  vierten  Winterfeldzug  raehr  geben,  es  darf  kein  Schuss  mebr  fallenl 

Fordert  die  Befreiung  der  eingekerkerlen  Genossen,  die  das  Vertrauen  des  interaationalea  Prole- 
tariats geniessen,  damit  sis  an  der  Friedensarbeit  tcilnehmen  konnen. 

Traul  keinen  Friedensphrasen.  Beurleill  die  Regierung  danach.  ob  sie  sofortigea  WaOenslill- 
stand  auf  alien  Fronten,  ob  sie  sofortige  Friedensverhaiidlungen  anerkennt,  ob  sii"  sich  zum  Frieden 
ohne  Annexionen  und  Kontribulioneu  auf  Grund  des  Sell)ilbe>llmiiiungsrecht  aller  \  olker  bekennt. 

Bildel  uberall  ,\rbeiter-  und  Soldatenrate,  als  Organe  Eures  Kampfes  um  den  Frieden. 

Es  lebe  der  sofortige  Waffenstillstand!     Kein  Schuss  falle  mehr! 

Zu  den  FriedensverhandlungenI 

Rucktauszum  Kampfe  um  den  Frieden,  vom  freien  Willen  der  Volker  geschlossen! 
Trotzky  UljtnofrLeain 

Kommiistr  fur  die  AaswJrlig«a  Angeleg«Qb«itfn.  Prk,itet  des  Rfttt  der  K^thhmitb. 


A  handbill  by  wliich  the  Bolshcviki  s]jread  ihcir 
propaganda  in  Germany 


Bemerkung. 

L'mslehender  Aufruf  wurcic  durch  \>rnillllung  dir  ans 
);indiscti«i)  Kontniiksion  dcik/cntniUmiiitep&iliTLjotsclwwiki 
ill  StocUuilm  an  ilit  Iriegfuhiendeti  Viilkcr f crichlct.  Die 
Kosierang  Lenin's  bieteldic  Hand  ru  ciDemiurdcm  Selhst- 
i)C-linimuig»reclit  der  Volter  bcrohcndcn  Vull^erfrwden 
und  fordert  torurligen  WalTenstilUUnd.  VValireniJ  diescr 
Adfruf  in  der  Form,  wic  ilm  die  russtsche  prolclarische 
Pcgicrung in  die  Volker der  Entente  geiichtet  hat,  in  Frank- 
reich,  iingland,  It.ilien  usw.  dupcd  die  I'rcsse  verbrritct 
wurde,  'St  cs  in  Dculscltlmid  >-  dessen  lte;.'icrung  so  oil  iln'c 
Fiicdcnsliel)e  behauptct  —  slrcngitens  verbolcn  diosen  Atif- 
nITtn  »efhwiten  oder  abiudrncken.  ts  wuidr  elienralls  iin 
i^egonsatz  zu  Osterreich  verb  -ten,  Versafiimliiiigcii  it\t7<i 
lialten.  in  denea  das  rtis-'isclie  Friedciis-  und  WalTcnstill- 
stand-angebot  besprocbpn  wcnlen  snllle.  Abgcontneter 
llaase  von  der  Unabliiingigen  Suziatdrniokratisclion  Patlei 
gusserle  sich  ini  Ilcicltslag  liber  dic^s  Verfoi>t  fuI^eDder- 
massen  .  "Ein  AuTrnf  uuserer  P.iriri  zur  Veranslallmig  vcm 
Versanimhnigen  initdcr  Parole  der  russisclicn  Piegipinng: 
ullgemeiner  WalTcnslilKtand  zum  Zwpcke  eines  aiif  alien 
Scilcn  annexioBsloscri  Friedeni.  wurde  besdilagnahmt  und 
seine  Weiterverbreit  ing  vcrbnten.  Der  ■Loipiiger  Volks- 
acilung*,  die  vor  dem  Verboteden  Aunif  al>gedrtickl  hat, 
wurde  die  Unterdriickung  fiir  die  Oauer  des  Krieges  abgc- 
droht. 

•  Die  Einberiifung  der  Friedonsversammlungen  wurde 
dann  verboten.  Als  daraufdie  Arbeiter  sich  entsehlossen, 
in  D«utseliland  durch  .Strassendemnnstrationcn 
ihren  Fi-iedehswilh-n  zu  bekunden,  schritten  an  verscliie- 
denen  Stelirn  Polizeibeamte  gegen  die  Demonslrierenden 
in  -brutaler  Weiso  ein.  und  der  stfllvertretende  komoian- 
dierende  (ieiieral  des  yierten  Armeeknrps  rrliess  einc 
CeUnalniaLhuiig,  die  tine  licsondere  Delraclilung  ver- 
dient.  lis  heisst  in  dieser  Verordniing,  die  iiberall  ange- 
schlagen  ist:  "Nienialsals  jetzt  wardie  Lage  guiistigcrfiir 
linscr  Vaterland  eir»cn  FritKlen  zu  erreirhen,  dor  die 
Zukanft  des  dcul'.chen  Vottes  und  das  W»hl  der  arbei- 
lenden  Bevoltcrung  sichert.  Ich  weiss  niich  dahereins  mit 
alien  ernstn  und  •.■ereifli  n  deutschen  Manncrn  und  Frauen, 
wenn  ich  liicrniit  erklare,  dass  sich  jcdeiii  Versnche  jener 
duDkleo  Elirenmanner,  die  i«  der  enlschcidi nden 
Stunde  dieses  Vfillerringcns  beimluckisch  unsem  in  den 
«cl<ir£slen  Kampfcn  lirgenden  tapfrrn  Drddern  drausseo 
durch  unangebiaihlc  Moinungsaussertiiigeri  in  den  Arm 
fallen,  mil  der  gebolenen  Scharfe  begegnen  vierde. 
Deutsche  Arbeiter,  warnt  eure  Kamcraden  vnr  Unbedacht- 
famkeit,  deulsche  Miillcr,  hiitct  cure  Kinder  vor  dem 
Llnhed,  das  ihnen  an  der_  Beleiligung  an  olTenllicheD 
Zusaramenrottungen  droht.  VVcr  sicii  liieran  oder  durch 
Verleilen  iind  \orzeigen  von  Aufri/fen,  Listen,  Zettein 
und  dergleichen  bcfailiy,  befehl  Landesverrat  und 
wird,  wenn  niclil  mih'crne  llmstande  zugi^liilligt  weidcn, 
Diit  Zuchlhaus,  unter  Umstanden  mit  dem  Tode  be- 
(trafL  Deutsche  Manner  und  Franen.  weiset  mit  Abscheu 
die  lletzer  zurucL,  die  cure  Vacr  Bruder  und  audi  die 
Frauen  auf  die  Slrasse  Ireiben  wollen,  angeblich  um  dem- 
Frieden  tii  diciien,  in  Wahrheit  aber,  um  Dcutschland 
den  Feindcn  auMuliefern.  Feiudlicfae  Uestechungsgelder 
•pielen  hierbei  eine  Holle. 

.•.-,.  .Wenn  Arbeiter  In  Leeds,  Lyon  oder  Malland  fiir 
4en  Frieden  auTden  Strassen  ilem'inslrieren,  werden  sie  in 
dergesamten  deutschen  Prfsse  als  Vorkinipfer  des  Friedens 
ftfeicrl;  wrnh  nbor  dnulsclie  Arbeiter  in  glcichcr  Weise 
handeln,  werden  sic  beVSmpfl.* 

An  diesen  Talsaeben  niOge  das  deutsche  Voile  den  Frie- 


dent  willen  der  preussisch-deiilscb  'ii  Regicrung  beurteilen 
Das  Verbot  des  rut<ii>cb«'n  Frieders-  und  V\  atl'cnstill'^tan 's- 
vorschlags  wird  dfm  dcut'ichcn  Vo  kc  wohl  zur  Cenuge  be- 
wciseu,  dass  ea  voa  dieser  l\cgierung  e;iien  Fricdca  nicht 
zu  envartcn  hat. 


Wie  sieht  e»  in  Oesterreich  mus? 

Die  in  Wirzborg  ertcfacinende  «Ba}erisclie  Landet- 
zeilung-  druckt  in  ihrcr  Nunimcr  voni  30.  ^OK■mber  l<»17 
(.\''i2l|ciiicuBnerab,  der  ibrau'.VViea  zuvesaliickt  wurde; 
dor  die  gauze  crsteSeite  umfass^nde  .Artikel  Irngt  in  dickcn 
Lellem  deo  Titel : 

l>er  Hongertod. 

Die  Ziistande,  die  in  Osti'rreich  in  Bezug  auTdie  Er- 
nahrung  bcrrschen,  wcrHen  darin  in  der  Lrassosten  Weise 
gesctiiblert.  Es  sicllt  sich  nun  die  Frage  :  wie  kommt  es, 
dass  die  in  dieser  BezicLungso  besoiiders  strcnge  preus^  sdi- 
deiilsche  /.ensur  diese  Oarstcllung  der  osleireichischeD 
Vcrlialtnis.se  genchmigte,  obschon  der  \'erfasser  unumwun- 
deo  Eu:ribt,  dass  Ik-utschlaods  Bundesgenoi.se  der  Crschop- 
Tung  nahe  ist?  Beira  Losen  dWsca  Artikcls  hat  nut.  gani 
don  Eindruck.  dass  0>terrcicli-Uugarn,  wie  man  sfi  sagt 
taus  dem  lettlcn  Loch  pfeife*.  Wahrscheinlich  hatte  die 
deulsche  Zensurdabei  die  Alisiclitdie  beruhrafce  preussische 
•  Orgaiii^^alion*  indasrechte  l.ichtzu  stcllen,  und  vicllei^t 
den  bayeriscben  Laodcskindena  mil  diesem  Artikel  zuz4- 
rofen  :  •Seht,  so  was  lomml  bei  nns,  dank  der  preus- 
sisclwn  Organisation,  nicfat  vor*.  Nun  das  bayerische  Volk 
wi  d  viilloiclitaiidercr  Ansicht  sein,  deun  an  vielen  Slcllea 
kann  man  ruhig  stall  i.6slcrreich»  tOcutschland*  setzch 
und  stall  •  Wien  •  •  Beilin  •.  Dochdas  mogen  unsere  Leser  au* 
den  folgenden  Ausziigen  seJbst  l)eurtcilen  ; 

•  Der  staalliche  Apparat,  repraseiilittrL  durcbdie  Burolcra- 
lie.hat  wieuberall  im  Kriege  virsagt.  Bei  uns  in  (^stcrrcicb* 
Uiigarn  gabet  Dur  e  i  ne  Urganisatinn  ,die  im  Uandumdr»hea 
ein  .Spinnenmtz  ulicr  Stadl  und  Ijnd  zog  und  uherall  mit 
Gewinn  ilire  sihmulzigen  Hande  hineinslecVen  ln^nnle  :  di* 
('rganisali  n  der  grossea  .Spilzbuben,  samt  ihren  Helfera 
und  Ilelfrrslictrem.  >Sieliaben  die  llams'erci  gnd  den  Preii- 
wucher  niittelst  Auflanr  und  Ketlenhandel  aufs  llochste 
aus>;ebildel  unJ  dank  der  Schw.iche  der  VerwaUungsl>e- 
honlen ,  der  Polizei  und  Jnstiz  zum  lierrschcnden  Printip  de* 
Maales,  de«  Verlchrs  und  der  Volksemahrung  erhoben. 

Trotzdcin  schon  die  (Irscliichte  der  franzosischen  Bev»- 
lution  Iclitte,  dass  allc  Verri^nungen,  (jesetze  iind  An- 
drobiingen  mitdM-  und  Fn  iheits-trafen  dcmgrmeinschad- 
liclien  und  gemeingefahrlichen  Unfug  des  Leliensmitlct* 
und  Warenwiicliers  keinen  Abbruch  zu  lun  vrrmochlen, 
bis  cndllch  einc  latVradige  Bigierung  diese  Wnch'-rer  wie 
die  liclrujerischen  Arrocclieleianten  als  Landesverriler  vom 
Krieg-gerichl  dem  llcnker  uberliererte  und  so  raach  die 
(Irdnuiig  herslcllle,  lilieb  man  in  Ostcrreich-Ungani  be! 
der  VielscliTclherci  slehcn,  liess  noch  durch  die  Zensnr  der 
elirlicben  und  mutigen  Presse  Handschcllen  aniegen,  trug 
so  zur  Forldauer  der  hcill(«on  Wirtschafl  und  Tur  .Schurung 
der  allgeiii  inen  L'nzufriedenheil  maclitig  bei  nnd  erzeuete 
allorlci  Aiig'tprndukte  wic  den  Amnestic -F.rla»s  fur  die 
tscliechisclien  Hoch*erralrr<?) .  die  Wuheissong  des  .illgc- 
mcinen,  gUiclien  und  geheimen  VVahlrechtes  in  Ungarn 
und  den  Vorschlag  fiir  einen  kranioseo  Verzichtfriedco 
durch  den  Aussenmini<ter  Graf  Czemin. 

Kfirzlichislamtlich  in  Wien  festgesti'lltvrnrden.  in  einem 
Berirlit  der  Gemeinde,  da  s  die  .Stcrblichleit  unter  den 
armen  alien  Lculen  um  SOProzenl  zugcnnmmi-n  babe. 
Bamenllicb  unter  dcuen,  die  in  die  V'ersorgungshauaer  d«f 


s*ii  l.itirm  S<*s';lwrien ,  di?  v<%n  ipr  fjcmpinde  irahrend  6rs 
yancoii  KriogT^^  iTiwIirt  -unrdm,  hallen  THch  durch,  die 
atxT,  dK  neu  hin/ulonmifi].  i^rrbpD  alle  dsfaia.  ^ie 
liommFn  to  uaternthrt,  to  verkumomt  >a.  so  dm  ima  in 
der  Rqirl  nur  noch  Tar  «in  Grab  tu  torgvn  babe. 

Dunit  i<<  die  sUtittische  FetUlrlluni;  i;nfehe«  jkber  den 
Hunff<-rztittind  in  den  irroeren  >diirtilea  der  Wiener 
BevtiticernBg.  Und  <tie  Friedhnftvprwjiltuiiwrt)  hettsligen 
«u  h  t«D«teifleung«enieincr+H*hU'SV'rbli(^k*»Ufczifler.  Oe*es 
SteHien  aber  hAngt  vie!  weniger  ■usjmmttiiDit  drm  UMitgel 
an  Lehen^initteln  alt  deai  wthn^ni^n  IVileiwr.  der  mit 
allfti  Cvtwircn  gelriebeii  wird.  fur  4ie,  die  g^nugend 
GeW  bahen,  itt  noch  inmer  aHes  atirzutreiben ,  der  Anae 
aber  i4  dem  Hunger  au^elif^fert.  t'nd  er  bat  V9ch  keinc 
Kohle  und  ieia  t.tcM,  der  U  inter  alter  tteKtvor  der  Tiir. 
Seil^n  Fetiq*ii«r  dJ.  tchon  werd^^  Hungcnunlande  in 
mehtvren  deoitchen  Beiirteit  Nnrdhohmewt  fetlgijtrfll. 
t>ie&ehwifsensrha(Ui<4ieuKrTite  nennen  <!(«  Krankheil,die 
dort  auOrin.  (lungerodem  uod  es  itl  i«  Osterreich  jetit 
ciriefcinnmrsti'in  d-^  Oberttefl  SaniUtsrates  Mv  Wfvke, 
diese  iTschrinung  zii  studi»-r'^n- 

Ooch  aueti  ihr  Henchl  wrdM^bt  hirhtte  Au'fnieik<«ilite>t. 
Die  Falle  des  Hnof^rodenw  tlhlpn  «aeh  vielen  Taosendei 
die  Slert)lich<teit  s»eigt  uhcri)!.  In  der  beMhn)t«n  U-ine 
webcrsla*  Kumborg.  tvs  die  MerMiHiUit  Mher  J»  Proarnt 
betrug,  ist  tie  uin  mehr  ^Is  50  Pruipnl  ^esliegen, 
heitstes  in  dietem  Bericht.  Wenn  wir  recht  verstehen,  so 
tterlx-nalto  von  lOOPersonen  nieliraU>'5.  Das  ttehlschwarz 
auf  tvciis  da-idioraltl  nwtliu'2eUi\  obw  dats  auf  ihrcn 
grauciibaAea  Ipliall  besondt'rt^iii^ewiesen  war«, 

Und  die  X"mmi-.sion  slelll  aut-h  fert;  dass  ll(T  Ilunger- 
odem  im  Friilijahr  sich  vcrnnnderle,  zur  Emtczcit  aUzu- 
flautA  britaun  uuci  jcut^ieder  siciEl.  Die  ^r>nkheil  )i5ngl 
aliogenau  lusammen  mil  der  nalurlichen  Eroihrungsweise 
voivtirniusca  Dod  FcUlriichlea  uod  liall  Schrilt  mit  ileni 
Gang  des  ialirw.  T)«r  Wiukrwird  eiiie  Ralaaroplic  bringen. 
Waruuj  isliii  0>lerr.  ich  1,'iigarn  nicbt  mil  der  rQcksichii 
losesten  Sln-nge  Ordiiuag  gemackt  wordci)  in  der  Lebcns- 
jnitlclverteiiu/fg,  so  iange  es  noch  keineu  Ifuni^rudeui  gab? 
Alle  Welt  »ei«  es,  dass  die  nicht  den  geringsten  Mangci 
Iciden,  die  das  Kilo  Vbinab.  mit  30-40  Kronen,  den  'Zucker 
mil  15  Kronen,  das  Teine  \uJlorracbI  mit  i6  und  20  Kronen 
und  eiiie  Cans  mit  120  Krown  bezahlen  kpnnen.  Car  nieht 
lu  iwlrn  voa  alien  denkbarcn  Fleisdiarlcn ,  die  jedemzur 
VerTuguag  ttrheo,  dfj  >ie  bezalilen  kana.  .'  ' 

Das  ist  di«  rrii,ise  Siinde  dcs  Krieget.  XJnd  an 
ibren  Folgen  werienwir  noch  Iange  kranken,  sie  wild  iiir 
Verschailu  g  der  sozialen  Ite.  bung»n  mehr  bcilragcn  als  die 
hiKhmogcndi-n  lle,riin  sich  heule  traumen  la>sen.  Der 
Aurtlicg  ufid  die  Ausbicitu'ng  dis  Gcdankens  der  VolVsherr- 
•ctiafl  Habiend  dc,  Krirj;e>  Tit  hauplsachlich  auf  die  ver- 
»cliarreL'iiJeichma-,M»kiMt  in  derAcrteilung  «ciner  Ijslcn 
iiiruckziifuhren.  Nie  Irat  es  so  augt^^nrall  g  lienor,  weni 
die  tcbwerslen  Oprcrauf^-i'burdel  woiden,  »ie  j'  Izl,  nie  sab 
man  to  scbarf  wie  «hlerlit  und  mit  »ie  wenig  Verstand  die 
allgcrneinrn  (iub  r  des  Valerlandes  vorwallet  wei -ten.  Das 
gill  Iiir  Uiigara  wie  fiir  Oslirrcich  nnd  der  Hni^crodiin 
wird  gar  bal  I  kcinc  norJbohmischc  Angelegcribcil  niclir 
sein 

DasdeuUcbe  Volk  hat  aber  eiu  ruhiges  Cewissen,  dieset 
Vulk,  dat  ioviel  gcstriltcn,  gcllticn,  geopfert  und  gehurgcrt 
hal.  Wer  »b.-r  hat  ein  scljerhles  Cewissen,  wer  hat  die 
Gebole  der  Siltlichkeit  und  MfMscMicbkeil  missadilcl,  wer 
die  Ccbnte  des  Ccldt:icks  und  des  Wanstei  uber  Crs.  I/, 
Itetbl  und  Mural  getelzl  und  dem  Voike  Fatten  und  Trinken 
wrleidet,  fOe  tick  «b«r  l(««c(HAni«r  Had  Scbilje  |Mainmelt) 


FiirdieteLeule  —  dieLcbenHiiillelwuciierer,  Ketloabaadlac, 
Preisireiber,  und  Konsurleii  —  lurclitfl  tazellenz  Deraturg, 
cr  bat  Angst  vorderkm-benden  Volkssecle,  detiiaife  tucht.er 
Dacbeim-m  neueo  Geist  der  Varfttandi^ung,damitd*e  Sftta- 
bubea  ihren  Raub  ini  Fneden  verzehren  konoea,  ohoa 
deti  allerdiogs  ihr  Leben  uidit  wert  ist,  gelebt  za  wtrdeA.t 


Die  M6glicbkeit 
einer   deutschen  Revolution. 

Von  Dr.  11.  Sotloci- 

Die  Moulichketl  einer  d«utsclieu  Revolution  ist  eio  Pro- 
blt-fn,  uber  das  scbou  viel  gesprocben  uod  gescbriebf;o 
wurde.  Bev.ndcrs  hrennend  i»t  diese  Frage,  Neit  daa 
rus^itche  Volk,  das  man  in  Deultcbland  gerne  ait  minder- 
wertig  hin^tellt,  die  Kraft  zur  Selbstliefri-iuiig  ge/uiiden  uad 
nM  den  abtoluti<tiscbcn  Zaritmus  aufrauiutt. 

Kunnte  das  untcr  abnlicben  Beding  'ngen  lebeadji 
detiWche  Volk  nicht  aucb  rinnial  lu  dieseiu  Mittel  greiftar 

tan  franz9<.isclier  Verla^  unteroahni  es.die  yu'tckucdewen 
Autworten  uud  Austeningen  zu  diescr  Fra;te  in  ein«r  Hija- 
icbAre  ca  samnii'ln.  Fast  Alle  beaniworleten  vcrueiaend , 
nait  der  Cegrundung,  dasA  das  deutsclie  VoJk  geiatig  nodi 
nidit  daiureirwt. 

BebrI  tagtc  einmal  lu  eiocm  Franzosen,  dez- .liia  uber 
seine  Meiuung  fragle  :  "Ilir  liatlet  es  Icicht  mit  der  Revolu- 
tion, ihr  babt  nur  eioen  Kopr alitcbneidea  lautana,  fiir 
Deutschen  miissti-n  drren  IQnfundewanzig  abhaMcu.'« 

Dtmit  wkre  ein  srhnier  ger  Punkt  der  AntwDrt  geOvSun. 
Die  runrandrwaDtig  vertcbiedcKen  drultchcii  ;»taali>o  <«il 
ihmn  mnfundzvianrig  vrr».^iedenen  Obrrbauptcrn  leb^ii. 
utiler  den  aliervcnjchiedentten  Vcrbaltnt^ten,  die  ieilweit^ 
tu  cioer  L-ntufliedL-uhvit  weuixcr  Anl*»j  ^bcn,  da  man(:hc 
dteser  Slaateii  tidi  einer  verhaitnisnia'.sig  dcaiokratixh"! 
Verfasaung  crfreuen.  Vor  allem  ist  diet  bei  eioigei)  <<id- 
deutsdien  Staaien  zatrefiend, 

Walircnd  dirse  SUaten  im  grovten  Fri«<leii  ict>len,u|ul 
nicht  im  grrmjsten  an  die  Mogtictikeitdex  Krieces  dac^hlivo, 
hatle  Pi'eusi«ii  nur  die  Ver^tarkung  der  eigeo(;n  Uadit  iai 
Augie.tuchle  Ilreiitien  unermodliih  eine  aus^jcpragtc  Vor- 
m.icht-lillung  unter  den  Bundesstaalen  zu  etrmfeo,  uia 
sciae  ehif  rizixcn  Plane  nach  au!>scii  ermogbclieq  zu  kooixen 

Et  war  daher  rin  besla'diecr  Kanipf  itn  Inae^-i^  des 
noichcs,  dcno  iiicht  jeder  SUiat  wollle  die  preuttis  boiVor- 
niacMibne  weiteret  aneriennen,  vor  allcm  tricbi  Bayern. 
Das  gauze  Mililarwcscn  und  das  fiir  den  Kriegsfall  nicht 
minder  wltbtigc  Ei^cnluliimesen  kam  allmahlicli  in  die 
Han-te  des  eroberungtluNti-ruen  Picusteu.  iiaycrn  allcin 
wcigcrle  sich,  es  den  ubrif;en  Bundcsslaalen  trleidi  zu  tun 
■«d  diete  llauplgnindlagr  der  pdiliiclKii  SellKlaudigkcil 
an  Pnevtwn  a(>tutrelen. 

Es  allrin  liewahrte  die  voo  der  Rcicbsverfatsiing  g-irao- 
liiTte  ^Sl•lb^talldiglei^  am  mcisleu  und  i«.»  in  j,M'  r  llin- 
aicbl. 

Man  Bur  an  dan  MlbithenHirlie  Preussea  nii<  sviaw 
sehisthecriici  en  Junkcrn  und  gel'lgieiig-n  li»dustriol|ei., 
vor  allero  isi  di>^  i«i  lltvern  der  Kail,  .il>  d«n  fei«d  au.bp- 
tiachlcn.  >.an  abnte  fruh,  iwihin  '"eiui  'NilHflraiseln'le 
Holi««rollr»  ipotilik  in  modemer  Zeit  fiibiea  mutse,  tind 
man.  niachio  aiK-h  au«  der  MissbWIigung  keia  Kibl.  .Der 
Reisckaivrr  rog  e<  dadar.  meiiten.s  wr,  Menchcn  rait  aeiaea 
Betochrn  »  »«rs*(<<)nen.  W ie  . b«geis<eil •  JOan  jibfi  ttets 
aufgennmmen,  »enn  er  doch  einmal  gekoouuen,  4fvoii 
wissen  die  Munchner  d>«  achnH^lfn  Anekdouo  au.eraiUea. 
Man  srhlage  nur  den  •Simpliiissimut'iiacb. 

VV»'ehen  JlnwHt  Praqiten  nH  •einer  V"iil>«';litltl)l»0(, 


mii  seiner  AlleiDberrschnft  in  DeutscbUnd  im  Auge  hatte , 
sagt  UI18  der  heiilige  Kripg  deutlich  gt^nug.  Man  erinnere 
rich  nurder  &chw)ingvnllen  Reden  und  Zeitungsartikcl  im 
eHtcn  Krfegsjiibre,  in  denen  die  preussische  Organisation 
dnd  Manneszucht  das  A  und  Z  warpn.  Wie  oil  wurde  bei 
die&er'Gelfigenheil  unbedachtsamcrweise  mit  Stolz  aiif  diese 
preussiscbe  Vormacbtstellung  hingcwicsen.  aNurPreussen 
haben  wir  unsere  Kriegsbereitscbafl  und  Kriegsliicbtigkeit 
Ku  verdankcD"  war  das  einsfimmige  Lob  der  verscbie- 
dtDstea  Zeijungen. 

Eine  eroberungssiichlige  HohenzoUcrnpolitik  im  Bunde 
mit  eincr  gcldg-erigen  Industriemachenschaft  hat  das  fried- 
liebieMle  Deutsche  Voile  in  den  Krie^gctricben,  obne  cs  nach 
selherti  eigenen  Willen  zu  fragen,  und  hat  die  ganze  Well 
in  FlaAmeB:t*^etzt. 

fst  daber  voneiner  deutschea  nevolution  die  Rede,  so 
iiftan  es  sich  our  am  eirte  Revolution  gegen  Preusseo, 
gegen  den  Konig  von  Preussen  und  seine  Anbanger,  die 
&rdut*'und  Industrtcjunker  babdftn, 

Diese  s5nd  -der  deulsche'Erbrt'ind,  und  gegen  diese  wird 
ftfch  eine  deutsche  Volkserbdbung  wen'Icn.  Aber,  sagt  man, 
das  deotsche  Volk  war  mehr  oder  weniger  mit  dieser  Politik 
uod  Regierung  doch  einverst^nden ,  es  bat  den  Krieg  doch 
sugeJafi£eD;  es  febit  ihm  heute  D<K:h  dcr  Sinn  Tur  pulitische 
Freiheit,  weshalb  es  keineswogs  zu  eiuer  Revobition  schrei- 
iea  wird;  es  wussle  viellcicht  nicht  einmal  einen  Gruad 
631x1. 

'  Hat  das  deutscbe  Volk  wirklich  keio  Verstandnift  tOr  poli- 
tische  Freiheit?  Oas  Verstandnis  ist  da,  ist  unbedingt  da 
nod  wird  sich  auch  noch  macbtig  aussern.  Mit  der  grosstcu 
Brntalitat  bat  man  bisher  jed^  solche  Ausseruog  unter- 
drOekt,  ja,  man  scheute  sich  nicht  einmal,  die  Verfassung 
lu  verietzen  wie  i.  B.  im  Falle  Liebknecbt. 

Das  Uorgenrot  der  russisdicn  Revulution  war  auch  auf 
'deutsehem  Himmel  sicblbar,  was  die  jungsten,  mit  grossler 
Vor^icht  gemachten  Entbutlungcn  im  Keicbstage  beweisen. 
Si«  ist  an  Deutscbland  nicht  voribergegangcn ,  obne  als 
leacbtendes  Beispiel  einen  nachhaltigen  Eiiidruck  zu  hin- 
terlassen.  Eine  masslnse  Erbitterung  iiat  das  deutsche 
Voll  erfasst,  die  zur  Selbsthilfe  grtifl,  wenn  gewisse  Leule 
nicbf  vorher  freiwillig  aof  die  Selbstherriichkeit  verzichteo 
und  dem  Volke  seine  Rpchte  zuruckgtben. 

•  Dk:  Deutschen  sind  tin  grundticbes  Volka ,  sagte  Prinz 
Alexander  zuHobentoht:  ciomal,  lund  wenn  sie  einmal  ab- 
recbneo ,  werdeo  sie  cs  auch  grftndlich  tun  It 

Die  «Freie  Zeitung*  (Bern),  5.  Dez.  1917. 


Wie's  gemacht  ^vird. 

1q  der  Pfortheimer  ■  Freien  Presse>  lesen  wir :  Wenn  ein- 
mal die  Geschichte  der  Kriegsgesellscbaften  geschrieben  wird, 
vrirtl  sie  die  Geschichte  cines  oSVntlicheu  S''andals  sein. 
Nicht  nmsonst  schreiben  die  Blatter  fast  aller  politischea 
Richtuogeo  von  den  <beruchtiglen  •  Kriegsgesellschaften. 
'Sie  sind  »ngeblich  zur  besseren  Versorgungsregelung  ge- 
grflndet,  in  Wirklichkeit  aber  sind  es  grosskapilalistische 
.Syndikatezur  Auswucberung  des  Publikums  und  lur  Besei- 
tigungderunliebsamen  kicinen  Konkurrenz. 

Eine  neue  Kriegsgesellschafl  worde  am  Sonnlag  in  Karls- 
'ruhe  g«bildet.  Dem  Vorsitzenden  derselben  wurde  ein  Jahres- 
gctult  Ton  72000  Mark,  das  sind  mooatlich  6000  Mark 
MwPliet.  Aus  der  Mitte  der  Versammlung  wurde  gegen 
'difset  horrende  Gehalt  des  Vorsitzenden ,  der  nebenbet  be- 
tliertt,  d>s  Mebrrache  an  sonstigen  Einoahmen  bat,  pro- 
teitiert  und  die  Frage  aufeeworfen  :  tWas  mOsste  da  ein 
(llndmburf  bszahJt  werrten  ? »    Die  Mchrheit  der  Anwesen- 


den  empfand  jedoch  keinerifi  moialische  Skrapel  und 
bewilligte  dem  Vorsitzenden  der  neueo  Kriegsgesellschalt 
72000  Mark  Gebalt.  Ganze  (i  vou  den  36  AnwesendcD 
kanntcn  es  mit  ibrer  geschaniichen  Moral  nichi  verein- 
barea,  ein  so  unerbortes  Gehall  zu  bewilligen.  Selbstvcr- 
standlicb  konoen  diese  enormen  Sumnien  an  Gehalt  our 
bei  entsprechenden  Einnahmen  bezahlt  werden.  Diese^ 
werdcn  durch  die  Bewucherung  des  Publikums  erzielt 
Es  ist  klar,  dass,  wean  der  Vorsitzende  eijier  solchen  Kriegs- 
gesellscbaft  72000  Mark  Jahresgchalt  hat,  diejeoigen.  die 
cs  ihm  bewilligen,  nicht  leer  ausgehen  woUen.  Der  gute 
gcduldigi-  deutscheiWcbel  zahll's  ja. 

So  geschehen  im  Jabre  des  Heils  1917,  im  vierten  Jahre 
des  Krieges,  in  Badens  Haupt-  und  Residenzstadl  uDlerden 
Augen  der  Beborde. 

Man  grein  sich  an  den  Kopf.  Draussen  stehen  onsere 
Suhne  und  Brilder  im  schwersten  blutigsten  Kampr.  Da- 
heiin  arbeitet  das  Vol!<:,  was  das  Zeug  halt,  und  eine  kleine 
Minderheit  kapitalischer  Vampire  bcreichert  sich  an  der 
Nrit  des  Volkes  in  der  unerhorlesten  VVeise,  sammclt  Rie^eo 
vermogen  an,  dieweil  der  Staat  und  die  Masse  des  Volke» 
immer  mehr  verarmeo. 

Wir  fragen  laut  und  mocblen  es  in  alle  Winde  schreien  ; 
Wie  lansre  glaubl  man  dem  deutschen  Vrdkc  diese  Zustande 
noch  bieten  zu  kunaen?  Wauo  rndlich  Gudet  sich  eine 
Stelle,  die  dieser  S. .  .wirtschafl  ein  Ende  macht? 


An  das  Sozialistische 
Proletariat  Deutschlands. 

Der  Vorstand  der  Unabhangigen  Sozialdemokratie 
Deutschlands  ricbtel  an  die  Arbeiter  und  Arbcilerinuen  den 
nacbstebenden  Aufruf : 

In  Russland  hat  das  Prolitarial  die  politische  Gewalt er- 
grilTen  —  ein  Ereignis  von  wellgeschicbtlicher  Bedeutung. 
Xoch  oiemals  ist  dem  Prolutai  iat  eine  so  grosse  Aufgabe  zu- 
gewiPsen,  wie  in  diesem  Angenblick. 

Als  Gegner  der  Kapitalismus  und  aller  imperialistischen 
Bestrebuiigen  will  die  pmlelarische  Regierung  Russlands 
einen  allgcmeinen  WafTcnstillsland  zum  Zweck  eines  Frie- 
dens  anbieten,  der  auf  alien  Seiten  Annexionen  jeder  Art 
oflene  und  versclilcierte,  ausschliesst. 

Die  HulTiiung  den  Winterfeldzug  zu  vermeiden,  ist  damit 
verstarkL  Diese  lloflnung  kann  jedoch  nicht  in  Errallun; 
gcben,  wenn  das  deutscbe  Proletariat  lediglich  als  teil- 
nelimcnder  Zuscbauer  die  Vorgange  in  Russland  verfolgt. 
Gerade  das  deutscbe  Proletariat  hat  die  Pflichl,  jetzt  bberall 
Massenkundgebungco  fiir  einen  auf  alien  Seiten  anneiions- 
losen  Fricden  zu  veranstalten.  Die  Plane,  Gebielswerbun- 
gen  zu  machen,  sei  es  im  Westeo,  sei  es  im  Ostea,  haben 
wir  Sozialisten  grundsalzlicb  bekSmpti.  Mehr  als  je  bilden 
sie  jetzt  ein  FrieJeiishinderois. 

Geoossen  und  Genossinnen!  Beweist,  dass  ihrmitdiesen 
Planen  nichts  zu  tun  habt,  dass  ihr  den  annexionsloseii 
Frieden  wie  alle  sozialislisch  denkenden  Prolctarier  der 
Welt  wollt.  Regt  cuch !  Vergesst  nicht  cure  grosse  geschicht- 
liche  Aufgjbe.  Viel  steht  fur  das  Proletariat  aufdem  Spiel! 
Uberall  mussen  Versammlungen  veranstaltet  werden,  in 
denen  mit  wuchtiger  Kraft  der  Ruf  zu  erscballen  hat  :  All- 
gemeiner  WalTenstillsland  zum  Zweck  eines  auf  alien  Seiten 
anoexionslosen  Friedens! 

Die  UoAbb&ngige  Socitldemokratiscbe  Psrtei  Deuticbltads, 

Dittraann,  Haase,  Hofer,  Lankant, 

Ledebour,  Weogels,  Zietx. 

Voisf  f«a  Ucyw  ^ad  Unl)rr«^,  0«f, 


THE  RETURN  OF  LENINE 

caused  to  be  made  to  him  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  had  been  induced  to  accept  the  help  of  the  anar- 
chist and  extreme  socialist  parties  by  promising 
them  that  they  would  be  included  in  the  govern- 
ment which  he  wanted  to  form  with  their  help. 
Kerensky  was  not  an  idealist  by  any  means  and 
was  exceedingly  alive  to  his  personal  requirements. 
His  head  had  been  turned,  as  I  have  said,  by  his 
unexpected  success  and  he  never  realized  that  this 
success  had  been  partly  bought  with  German 
money  and  that  he  was  exalted  by  the  German 
press,  acting  on  orders  from  the  German  Foreign 
Office  and  the  German  Intelligence  Department. 

The  German  Intelligence  Department  had 
never  conducted  any  negotiations  more  brilliantly 
or  with  more  skill  than  this  whole  affair  of  the 
Russian  Revolution  and  the  Russian  debacle.  By 
a  master  stroke  it  had  contrived  to  send  to  Russia 
the  very  people  who  were  most  capable  of  ruining 
that  unfortunate  country  and  of  playing  on  its 
evil  passions  and  worst  instincts.  It  had  per- 
suaded these  men  that  it  would  help  them  to  attain 
the  pinnacle  of  their  unhealthy  ambitions  and  it 
had  really  done  so,  not  out  of  honesty  or  because 
it  believed  in  them,  but  simply  because  it  knew 
that  through  these  men  alone  it  could  enforce  what 
it  could  never  have  obtained  otherwise  —  the  dis- 

217 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

memberment  of  a  great  country  and  the  ruin  of  a 
great  people. 

All  the  time  that  Captain  Rustenberg  remained 
in  Petrograd,  he  often  trembled  lest  the  govern- 
ment then  in  power  should  see  through  the  multi- 
farious intrigues  which  Germany  was  conducting 
and  put  under  lock  and  key  the  men  who  were 
helping  to  carry  them  through.  The  German 
government  had  already  begun  to  distribute  right 
and  left  the  large  sums  which  it  sacrificed  to  insure 
the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  which  was  signed  at 
Brest-Litovsk  and  the  manner  in  which  these  sums 
were  transferred  to  Petrograd  I  shall  explain 
shortly.  Germany  had  friends  and  supporters 
among  members  of  the  Kerensky  administration, 
beginning  with  himself.  It  helped  both  Lenine 
and  Trotzky  to  win  for  themselves  strong  support- 
ers in  what  remained  of  the  army,  which  was  al- 
ready, if  not  entirely,  at  least  almost  entirely, 
disbanded  and  demoralized,  and  among  the  work- 
men employed  in  the  different  munition  factories  in 
Petrograd  and  Moscow.  Germany  subsidized  the 
constitution  of  the  Soviets,  that  disturbing  element 
which  was  to  prove  a  hindrance  to  every  serious 
attempt  at  government  in  Russia,  and  she  had  won 
numerous  partisans  to  the  idea  of  the  conclusion 
of  an  immediate  peace  without  reference  to  the 

218 


THE  RETURN  OF  LENINE 

Allies.  But  there  was  always  the  fear  that  some 
one  among  the  members  of  the  administration 
would  awaken  to  the  dangers  and  assert  himself 
and  his  authority  by  putting  both  Lenine  and  Trot- 
zky  under  lock  and  key,  which,  of  course,  would 
have  spoiled  the  whole  game. 

But  the  following  incident  did  happen.  A  Mos- 
cow lawyer  named  Karinsky,  the  State  Prosecutor, 
sought  the  Prime  Minister  and  entreated  him  to 
have  the  two  friends  arrested.  At  first  Kerensky 
refused,  but  then  asked  for  a  delay  before  he  made 
up  his  mind;  he  caused  secret  information  to  be 
conveyed  to  Lenine  as  to  what  he  had  been  re- 
quested to  do  which  enabled  the  latter  to  make  his 
escape  to  Finland.  Trotzky,  however,  was  seized 
by  an  officer  who  had  heard  him  make  an  anarchist 
speech  in  the  street  and  carried  him  to  the  police 
station.  The  State  Prosecutor  signed  a  warrant 
for  Trotzky's  committal  to  the  famous  Kresty 
prison,  where  he  was  conveyed  immediately,  to  the 
dismay  of  many  people,  including  Captain  Rusten- 
berg,  who  at  once  dispatched  a  messenger  to  Swe- 
den, through  Finland,  with  instructions  to  wire  the 
news  to  Berlin.  In  an  incredibly  short  time,  the 
captain  received  orders  to  secure  Trotzky's  re- 
lease no  matter  how  much  he  had  to  spend  to 
accomplish  It.     This  became  an  easy  matter  under 

219 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

the  conditions.  The  Soviets,  or  rather  some  mem- 
bers of  the  organizations  —  there  were  half  a 
dozen  of  these  bodies  in  Petrograd  alone  —  were 
persuaded  to  clamor  for  Trotzky's  release  and 
heated  discussions  on  this  subject  took  place  at 
the  Tauride  Palace.  M.  Perewiazeff,  who  at  the 
time  held  the  portfolio  of  Minister  of  Justice, 
attempted  a  lame  explanation  of  the  motives 
which  had  induced  him  to  put  an  end  to  the  activ- 
ity of  the  famous  agitator,  but  they  were  drowned 
in  a  general  uproar,  and  after  three  days'  confine- 
ment Trotzky  was  set  free. 

But  his  arrest  had  taught  Berlin  a  lesson,  and  it 
was  decided  that  the  time  for  action  had  come  at 
last;  that  the  great  drive  which  was  to  end  in  the 
fatal  treaty  which  delivered  Russia  into  German 
hands  had  to  begin  in  real  earnest.  In  order  to 
make  the  last  arrangements  Captain  Rustenberg 
was  ordered  to  return  to  Stockholm,  where  defi- 
nite instructions  would  await  him. 


220 


CHAPTER  XXI 

MADAME   SOUMENTAY   COMES   TO   STOCKHOLM 

When  Captain  Rustenberg  arrived  in  Stockholm 
he  found  that  both  Herr  Steinwachs  and  Mr. 
Barker  were  there.  They  seemed  extremely  pre- 
occupied with  the  events  which  were  hurrying  on 
one  after  another  in  Russia  and  nervously  anxious 
to  come  to  an  understanding  with  the  Bolshevik 
leaders,  as  the  anarchist  party  was  already  called. 
For  many  reasons  both  political  and  military  it 
had  become  essential  for  Germany  to  conclude  a 
peace  with  Russia  as  speedily  as  possible  and  the 
only  government  which  could  be  brought  to  lend 
itself  to  the  various  combinations  into  which  it  had 
entered  was  a  Bolshevik  one.  It  remained,  there- 
fore, to  see  that  it  was  installed  in  power  and  this 
had  become  the  first  object  of  the  care  of  the  Ger- 
man Intelligence  Department.  The  first  Cadet 
Cabinet,  in  which  men  of  the  eminence  of  Pro- 
fessor Miliukoff,  Prince  Lvoflf,  and  others  had 
occupied  seats,  no  longer  existed.  All  its  sane  ele- 
ments had  been  eliminated  or  had  retired  of  their 

221 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

own  accord,  finding  it  impossible  to  fight  against 
the  sociahsts  and  anarchists  who  were  coming  to 
the  front  more  and  more,  encouraged  by  Kerensky, 
who  all  through  played  a  double  game  as  con- 
temptible as  it  was  stupid.  But  on  that  very 
account,  and  because  it  had  to  be  recognized  that 
the  man  was  too  weak  to  be  a  serious  enemy  and 
too  devoid  of  initiative  to  become  a  friend  upon 
whom  it  would  be  possible  to  rely,  it  became  neces- 
sary to  remove  him.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  all  through  this  second  revolution  which 
brought  the  Bolsheviki  into  power,  Germany  was 
playing  for  one  of  the  highest  stakes  ever  known. 
Not  only  the  fate  of  Russia  but  also  that  of  Ger- 
many in  a  certain  measure  was  trembling  in  the 
balance,  and  Captain  Rustenberg  often  wondered 
how  the  German  Staff  and  Secret  Service  had  ever 
found  sufficient  courage  to  start  the  play  and  to  go 
on  with  it  in  spite  of  the  many  obstacles  with  which 
they  were  confronted. 

Herr  Steinwachs,  however,  seemed  perfectly  at 
home  in  the  intricacies  of  the  game.  He  seemed 
to  know  every  trump  his  adversary  held  and  in 
addition  to  Captain  Rustenberg  and  several  of  his 
colleagues  in  Petrograd,  the  Director  received  in- 
formation from  many  sources,  some  of  which  re- 
mained unknown  to  the  captain,  while  others  had 

222 


MADAME  SOUMENTAY 

often  been  of  considerable  use  to  him  in  investiga- 
tions he  had  to  make  on  his  own  account.  At 
this  juncture  M.  Kalyschkoff  once  more  can)e  to 
the  front  and  earned  the  complete  gratitude  of  the 
German  Intelligence  Department.  He  had  re- 
turned to  Stockholm  in  the  summer  of  191 6  and 
settled  in  a  small  seaside  place  not  far  from  town, 
called  Saltsjobaden,  which  later  on  became  the 
meeting  place  of  many  Russian  refugees  as  well 
as  of  German  Jews.  Here  one  of  the  best  and 
most  important  German  agents,  Baron  von  Oppel, 
settled  permanently  in  order  to  carry  on  unob- 
served the  extensive  work  he  had  been  commis- 
sioned to  perform.  And  though  Kalyschkoff  de- 
clared that  he  had  only  left  Russia  for  reasons  of 
health  and  that  he  had  come  to  Sweden  in  search 
of  the  rest  of  which  he  was  in  sore  need,  the  real 
purpose  of  his  establishment  at  Saltsjobaden  was 
to  form  a  link  between  certain  parties  in  Russia 
and  the  German  Foreign  Office,  which  he  kept  sup- 
plied with  regular  information  that  was  relatively 
easy  for  him  to  obtain.  M.  Kalyschkoff  professed 
a  holy  horror  for  the  very  name  of  anarchist  and 
Bolshevik,  but  he  owned  quite  frankly  that  he 
knew  Lenine  and  considered  him  a  thoroughly 
honest  man.  He  admitted  that  he  had  met  Trot- 
zky,  for  whose  intellectual  qualities  he  had  a  high 

223 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

opinion.  When  he  was  asked  about  the  state  of 
affairs  in  Russia,  he  used  to  reply  that  it  was  too 
early  to  judge  them  and  that  the  country  needed 
peace  before  it  could  settle  to  anything  approach- 
ing a  normal  condition.  In  general  that  word 
"  peace  "  seemed  to  be  on  every  Russian  lip  and 
one  heard  it  everywhere,  in  Petrograd,  in  Mos- 
cow, in  Kieff,  and  in  Stockholm,  where  by  that  time 
the  headquarters  of  the  Bolsheviki  and  the  Ger- 
mans were  established. 

One  thing  that  troubled  Herr  Steinwachs  was  a 
means  of  transferring  large  sums  of  money  to 
Russia  without  arousing  the  suspicions  of  the 
Allies,  who,  as  was  well  known,  had  means  of 
watching  all  the  money  operations  in  Continental 
banks.  This  was  a  grave  matter  which  had  to  be 
settled  somehow,  for  there  were  so  many  people 
to  be  subsidized  in  Petrograd  that  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  confide  to  one  person  all  the  funds  which 
would  have  to  change  hands  in  a  relatively  short 
time.  Trotzky  was  an  exacting  person  and  be- 
sides him  there  were  other  agents  who  had  to  be 
taken  care  of.  Then,  again,  it  was  indispensable 
to  ascertain  whether  the  propaganda  work  among 
the  troops  at  the  front  was  properly  conducted. 
If  the  army  would  only  lay  down  their  arms  of 
their  accord,  half  the  task  would  be  accomplished, 

224 


MADAME  SOUMENTAY 

because  the  government  of  the  day,  be  it  Bolshe- 
vik or  an  administration  composed  of  other  ele- 
ments, would  have  an  excuse  before  the  world  for 
putting  an  end  to  a  struggle  which,  they  could  say, 
had  destroyed  all  the  strength  Russia  had  pos- 
sessed. 

I  shall  now  relate  a  curious  sidelight  on  this 
affair.  At  this  particular  moment  there  were  still 
men  in  the  German  Secret  Service,  the  "  Pro- 
fessor "  among  others,  who  were  not  in  favor  of 
an  alliance  with  the  Bolsheviki  in  general  and  with 
Trotzky  in  particular.  They  seemed  to  dread 
him  more  than  they  did  Lenine,  perhaps  because 
they  deemed  him  the  more  unscrupulous  of  the 
two.  If  at  that  moment  Germany  could  have  sub- 
stituted some  one  else  for  this  ferocious  govern- 
ment, she  would  have  done  so  without  hesitation. 
But  unfortunately  there  was  no  other  government 
within  her  reach  for  this  purpose,  so  there  was 
nothing  else  to  do  but  take  whatever  Providence 
had  given  Prussia  and  accept,  with  shame  and  re- 
luctance, perhaps,  but  to  accept  all  the  same,  the 
hand  which  M.  Braunstein  and  his  colleague  lou- 
lianoff  were  so  eager  to  extend,  certainly  with  the 
hope  that  Germany  would  put  in  it  something 
worth  while. 

The  Russian  army  was  not  the  only  subject  of 
225 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

worry  in  Berlin.  There  was  the  labor  question 
and  the  state  of  mind  of  the  workmen  in  the  muni- 
tion factories  who  constituted  an  important  factor 
in  the  game.  If  the  workmen  could  be  influenced 
to  strike  and  refuse  tp  continue  the  making  of 
shell  and  guns  and  the  other  implements  of  war  on 
which  they  were  employed,  this  would  constitute  a 
serious  argument  for  the  Russian  government, 
such  as  it  was,  in  favor  of  the  cessation  of  hostil- 
ities. But  the  Secret  Service  had  only  vague  re- 
ports on  these  Important  factors  in  the  situation 
and  it  required  something  more  definite  than  the 
rumors  which  had  reached  Berlin  in  order  to  make 
its  plans  and  to  know  how  to  proceed  in  a  matter 
where  nothing  could  be  left  to  chance. 

It  is  hard  to  say  what  would  have  happened  or 
what  decisions  Herr  Steinwachs  and  his  colleagues 
would  have  taken,  if  at  this  juncture  there  had  not 
appeared  in  Stockholm  as  a  messenger  of  peace, 
with  an  olive  branch  in  her  hand,  no  less  a  person 
than  Captain  Rustenberg's  old  friend,  Madame 
Soumentay.  She  arrived  one  fine  morning  with 
the  news  that  she  had  been  asked  to  undertake 
the  long  journey  from  Petrograd  to  Sweden  by 
no  less  a  person  than  Lenine  himself,  who  at  last 
wished  precise  instructions  from  Berlin  as  to  the 

226 


Copyright,  ij  LnatrwoQti  and  Undfrivood,  A.    1. 


Antonoff ,  one  the  five  Bolshevik  leaders  who  shared 
20,000,000  roubles  —  paid  by  Germany 


MADAME  SOUMENTAY 

course   he   was   expected   to   pursue   henceforth. 

Mme.  Soumentay  was  a  charming  woman  and, 
moreover,  one  who  knew  her  own  mind.  She 
said  at  once  that  the  Germans  ought  to  be  ex- 
tremely careful  in  regard  to  the  handling  of  funds 
which  they  wanted  to  send  to  Russia,  because  Ger- 
many was  suspected  of  subsidizing  a  campaign  in 
her  favor  in  Petrograd.  Every  bank  in  the  capi- 
tal would  be  but  too  ready  to  put  spokes  in  the 
wheels  either  by  delaying  payment  of  any  sfims 
Germany  transferred  to  her  friends  or  allies  in 
Petrograd  or  by  informing  the  Allies  that  such 
sums  had  been  transmitted  to  them.  It  was  indis- 
pensable, therefore,  that  the  German  agents  should 
resort  to  unusual  precautions  not  only  so  as  to  dis- 
arm suspicion,  but  also  to  obliterate  all  traces  of 
the  origin  of  the  money  to  be  put  at  the  disposal 
of  the  new  government  which  had  contrived  to 
seize  the  Russian  Empire  and  to  rule  or  misrule  it 
according  to  its  fancies. 

Mme.  Soumentay  was  essentially  a  practical 
woman,  and  whatever  she  may  have  lacked  it  was 
not  intelligence.  She  gave  a  short  but  most 
graphic  description  of  the  different  men  capable 
of  working  hand  in  hand  with  Germany  and  of 
strengthening  Lenine  and  Trotzky  in  their  deter- 

227 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

mination  to  bring  the  war  to  an  end,  so  that  they 
might  be  able  to  put  into  execution  their  magnifi- 
cent program  of  government. 

By  a  curious  —  what  shall  I  call  it?  —  coinci- 
dence all  these  men,  most  of  whom  were  about  to 
play  a  leading  part  in  the  great  betrayal  of  Rus- 
sia, were  Jews.  The  new  commander-in-chief  of 
the  Bolshevik  army  was  Abraham  Krylenko,  a 
former  ensign  in  a  regiment  of  infantry.  He  had 
begun  his  career  as  a  schoolmaster  in  a  small  rural 
community  and  had  been  forced  into  the  ranks  by 
the  war.  He  was  a  sort  of  lazy,  good  for  nothing 
fellow  with  hazy  notions  of  grammar  and  espe- 
cially of  geography.  One  day  he  asked  whether 
Rheims  was  in  France  or  England.  His  intimacy 
with  another  of  Trotzky's  friends,  a  lawyer  named 
Kozlovsky,  had  brought  him  into  personal  contact 
with  the  famous  agitator,  who  had  discovered  a 
submissive  instrument  in  him  and  had  immediately 
offered  him  the  command  of  what  was  left  of  the 
Russian  army,  perhaps  with  the  idea  that  this  ap- 
pointment would  destroy  the  few  sound  elements 
left  in  its  ranks.  The  lawyer  Kozlovsky  was  a 
Polish  Jew  with  a  shady  reputation  and  an  inordi- 
nate ambition.  Then  there  was  Zina  Antonoff, 
another  Jew,  who  was  later  on  to  hold  different 
important  positions  one  after  another  and  whose 

228 


MADAME  SOUMENTAY 

political  ideas  consisted  in  thinking  that  the  old 
order  of  society  ought  to  be  swept  away  at  one 
stroke  to  make  place  for  a  new,  in  which  every- 
body who  felt  the  desire  to  appropriate  to  himself 
the  property  of  his  neighbor  could  do  so  without 
fear  of  being  prevented  from  putting  his  pious 
longing  into  execution.  There  was  M.  Adolphe 
Joffe,  who  spoke  openly  of  the  day  when  he  would 
become  Russian  Ambassador  in  Berlin,  the  only 
place  to  which  he  wished  to  go,  because  he  had 
there  so  many  acquaintances  of  former  times  with 
whom  he  would  be  able  to  make  geshaft  on  a  hith- 
erto unprecedented  scale  owing  to  his  official  posi- 
tion. There  was  Zinovieff,  one  of  Trotzky's  most 
faithful  lieutenants,  who,  like  so  many  of  his  co- 
religionists in  this  time  of  crisis,  had  adopted  a 
Russian  name.  Last  but  not  least  was  Lenine's 
wife,  also  of  Israelitic  origin,  and  several  others 
of  minor  importance  whose  names  I  have  already 
forgotten.  Mme.  Soumentay  did  not  add  that 
there  were  people  who  were  sure  that  she  also  had 
Jewish  blood  in  her  veins. 

These  were  the  people  with  whom  Germany 
would  be  obliged  to  work.  Repugnant  as  they 
were,  neither  Herr  Steinwachs  nor  Colonel  X.  nor 
any  of  the  chiefs  of  the  German  Secret  Service 
hesitated  to  make  use  of  them  and  to  pay  them. 

229 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE  BOLSHEVIK  HEADQUARTERS  IN  STOCKHOLM 

I  find  that  although  I  have  written  at  length 
about  Trotzky,  I  have  not  mentioned  his  return  to 
Europe  from  America.  The  anarchist  leader  had 
also  been  informed  as  early  as  practicable  of  the 
particulars  of  the  Revolution  in  Petrograd  and 
told  that  it  would  be  to  his  advantage,  as  well  as 
that  of  his  party,  if  he  returned  to  Russia  at  once. 
He  was  not  encumbered  with  luggage  nor  bothered 
with  the  necessity  of  breaking  up  a  home,  for  all 
he  had  was  in  three  rooms  in  the  Ghetto  of  New 
York,  which  had  been  furnished  with  money  lent 
him  by  friends  of  his  own  race  whom  he  never 
repaid  nor  intended  to  repay  for  that  matter.  At 
that  time  a  special  permission  to  leave  the  United 
States  was  not  required  by  aliens  and  Trotzky,  to 
whom  sufficient  money  to  pay  for  his  passage  had 
been  cabled,  embarked  on  a  Scandinavian  ship,  in 
an  excellent  temper  and  full  of  hope  of  being  able 
at  last  to  acquire  the  notoriety  for  which  he  had 
been  hungering  all  his  life. 

230 


THE  BOLSHEVIK  HEADQUARTERS 

But  his  joy  did  not  last  long,  for  at  Halifax  the 
British  authorities,  who  seemed  to  know  more 
about  him  than  he  had  supposed,  took  him  off  the 
ship  and  interned  him  in  a  concentration  camp. 
Trotzky  protested  with  the  utmost  energy  and  dis- 
patched a  series  of  cablegrams  to  Kerensky  and 
the  new  Russian  government,  claiming  as  his  right 
their  intervention  in  his  behalf.  Kerensky  had 
never  liked  Trotzky,  perhaps  he  was  slightly 
afraid  of  him,  and  would  have  been  but  too  glad 
to  let  him  remain  in  durance  vile,  so  he  turned  a 
deaf  ear  to  his  entreaties.  But  then  the  unex- 
pected happened.  The  Russian  Minister  was  in- 
fluenced in  some  mysterious  manner  to  the  extent 
that  at  last  he  sent  the  English  government  a  re- 
quest for  the  liberation  of  Trotzky,  whom  he  de- 
scribed as  a  poor  Russian  exile  who  desired  to 
return  to  his  own  country,  after  its  deliverance 
from  the  rule  of  the  hated  Romanoffs.  The  amus- 
ing part  of  the  story  was  that  Trotzky  was  not  a 
Russian  subject  at  all,  a  circumstance  of  which 
Kerensky  could  not  have  been  ignorant.  At  that 
time,  April  or  May,  19 17,  the  world  was  suffering 
from  an  attack  of  what  I  would  call  Kerensko- 
mania.  The  British  Cabinet  had  not  yet  appreci- 
ated this  personage  at  his  true  worth  and  it  yielded 
to  the  Russian  Minister's  request,     Leon  Trotzky 

231 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM    . 

was  told  that  he  could  go  and  get  hanged  some- 
where else  than  in  Halifax. 

Trotzky  did  not  seem  too  elated  at  this  triumph. 
Perhaps  he  had  good  reasons  to  expect  his  free- 
dom would  be  granted,  and  he  embarked  on  an- 
other steamer  which  this  time  brought  him  without 
further  unpleasantness  to  Norway.  There  a  sur- 
prise awaited  him  in  the  shape  of  one  of  his  cred- 
itors in  Paris,  who  happened  to  be  in  Bergen  quite 
by  chance  at  the  time  that  the  ship  that  was  carry- 
ing Trotzky  and  his  fortune  arrived  there.  The 
creditor  immediately  accosted  Trotzky  and  de- 
clared that  he  meant  to  make  things  hot  for  him. 
The  anarchist  tried  to  escape  from  the  clutches  of 
his  foe,  but  the  latter  was  tenacious  and  expressed 
the  intention  of  applying  to  the  Norwegian  au- 
thorities to  prevent  Trotzky  pursuing  his  journey. 
The  poor  debtor  protested  at  first,  then  became 
very  angry,  but  at  last  when  he  saw  there  was 
nothing  else  to  be  done,  asked  for  a  few  hours' 
delay,  during  which  he  contrived  in  some  mysteri- 
ous manner,  which  Captain  Rustenberg  could  have 
easily  explained,  to  raise  the  money  necessary  to 
satisfy  his  angry  creditor.  Trotzky  resumed  his 
voyage  to  Stockholm,  where  he  stayed  several 
days  with  a  whole  gang  of  anarchists  who  were 
anxiously   awaiting  him   to   discuss   their   future 

232 


THE  BOLSHEVIK  HEADQUARTERS 

course  of  action.  They  did  not  think  that  at  the 
moment  anything  could  be  done  towards  forcing 
out  the  Cadet  Government  that  had  assumed  the 
control  of  Russia,  but  Trotzky  brutally  told  them 
that  he  did  not  agree  with  them  at  all.  On  the 
contrary,  he  asserted  that  he  would  apply  himself 
to  the  task  of  compelling  that  cabinet  to  resign  by 
bringing  forward  questions  which  would  embar- 
rass it  considerably. 

Trotzky  had  vast  plans  as  to  what  he  was  going 
to  do,  for  which  I  do  not  believe  he  alone  was 
responsible.  He  declared  that  in  spite  of  the  ob- 
stacles which  he  was  told  he  would  encounter  he 
meant  to  make  it  his  business  to  preach  in  Russia 
the  doctrine  of  anarchy  and  to  explain  to  the  peo- 
ple that  their  interests  required  them  to  seize  as 
soon  as  possible  the  property  of  the  hated  "  bour- 
gou  "  and  annihilate  them  as  quickly  and  as  merci- 
lessly as  possible.  He  was  eloquent  in  his  way, 
perhaps  more  so  than  Kerensky,  because  he  had 
fewer  scruples,  more  violence  in  his  character,  and 
brought  into  the  struggle  all  the  abominable  appe- 
tites of  a  man  who  has  spent  his  life  in  the  stables 
of  society  and  who  wants  revenge  on  those  who 
consider  him  only  fit  to  be  an  inhabitant  of  those 
stables.  He  believed  in  nothing  except  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  hour,  and  he  was  not  even  ambitious, 

233 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

for  ambition  presupposes  something  noble  and 
honest  in  a  way.  He  simply  practised  the  doc- 
trine of  the  man  who  pushes  whoever  happens  to 
be  sitting  in  a  chair  out  of  it,  and  he  meant  to 
transform  this  doctrine  into  a  principle. 

Altogether  he  was  a  man  after  Herr  Stein- 
wachs's  and  the  '*  Professor's  "  own  hearts,  and 
it  is  no  wonder  that  they  were  so  delighted  at 
securing  his  cooperation,  knowing  as  they  did  that 
his  influence  over  the  Russian  proletariat  and  the 
Russian  masses  would  be  worth  more  to  Germany 
than  winning  several  battles.  During  the  few 
days  Trotzky  spent  in  Sweden,  he  organized  with 
the  aid  of  Germany  a  sort  of  headquarters  for 
his  party  with  which  later  on  he  remained  con- 
stantly in  contact.  He  did  not  trust  the  posts 
to  carry  his  instructions  to  his  satellites,  and  when 
he  had  occasion  to  send  a  message,  he  always 
intrusted  it  verbally  to  a  messenger  whom  he 
dispatched  across  the  border.  Money  was  always 
at  his  disposal.  His  trusted  friend  and  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  adviser  was  the  same  M.  Adolphe 
Joffe  whom  Captain  Rustenberg  had  seen  playing 
equivocal  parts  on  the  various  occasions  he  had  run 
across  him.  Joffe  was  one  of  the  most  important 
figures  in  the  Bolshevik  party  and  certainly  exer- 
cised a  considerable  influence  on  its  leading  mem- 

234 


THE  BOLSHEVIK  HEADQUARTERS 

bers,  such  as  Lenine  for  Instance,  who  was  clever 
enough  to  know  that  alone  he  could  not  hope  to 
master  all  the  difficulties  In  his  way.  Joffe  was  a 
slimy  sort  of  an  Individual  who  exercised  strong 
persuasive  powers  over  people  of  his  own  race 
and  blood  who  looked  up  to  him  and  believed 
that  he  was  endowed  with  considerable  political 
aptitude.  He  was  perfectly  well  aware  that 
alone  and  unaided  he  could  not  hope  to  rise  to 
anything  and  he  was  astute  enough  to  make  his 
profit  out  of  the  advice  he  was  constantly  receiv- 
ing from  the  German  Intelligence  Department 
and  to  speak  apparently  In  his  own  name  when 
he  was  in  reality  but  the  echo  of  other  people. 

Trotzky  acting  on  the  advice  of  Joffe,  when 
in  Stockholm,  on  his  way  to  Russia,  consented  to 
allow  German  officers  to  take  In  hand  certain 
departments  of  the  various  Russian  ministries  In 
case  he  should  be  able  to  seize  the  government. 
He  promised  to  let  Germany  have  her  own  way 
in  the  matter  of  any  negotiations  with  the  Soviets 
of  the  Ukraine  and  the  Caucasus  and  to  uphold 
any  decisions  that  the  German  government  might 
feel  inclined  to  take  In  regard  to  the  relations 
of  Russia  to  the  Allies.  He  agreed  to  provide 
with  false  Russian  passports  any  Germans  who 
wanted  to  go  to  an  Allied  country,  and,  altogether, 

235 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

put  himself  at  the  disposal  of  the  German  gov- 
ernment in  everything  it  wanted  him  to  do.  The 
abjectness  of  his  submission  was  so  complete  that 
even  the  "  Professor  "  expressed  doubts  as  to 
whether  he  would  ever  perform  what  he  had 
undertaken  to  do.  The  German  Secret  Service 
in  its  wildest  dreams  had  never  imagined  the 
possibility  of  finding  such  a  docile  instrument  as 
Leon  Trotzky  proved  himself  to  be. 

When  everything  had  been  settled  and  Trotzky 
was  satisfied  that  through  Sweden  he  could  keep 
in  touch  with  his  masters  and  friends  in  Berlin, 
he  left  for  Russia  where  he  was  warmly  received 
by  Lenine  on  his  arrival  in  Petrograd,  as  well  as 
by  other  prominent  anarchists.  However  he  did 
not  start  at  once  on  the  pro-German  propaganda 
he  was  to  carry  on  later  in  such  an  open-faced 
way,  but  set  to  work  in  a  cautious  manner  so  as 
not  to  attract  too  much  the  attention  of  the  pub- 
lic to  his  person  or  his  activity.  He  was  not 
yet  quite  sure  of  his  ground  and  he  acted  accord- 
ingly. But  he  entered  into  correspondence  with 
Berlin  and  this  at  last  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  Russian  Cabinet  which  then  discovered  his 
relations  with  the  German  Intelligence  Depart- 
ment. As  I  have  said,  Kerensky  was  compelled 
to  order  Trotzky's  arrest,  which  lasted  only  three 

236 


THE  BOLSHEVIK  HEADQUARTERS 

days  because  the  Soviets  clamored  for  his  release. 
During  his  short  stay  in  prison,  Trotzky  was  not 
inactive  and  posed  as  a  martyr  for  the  cause  of 
socialism.  As  he  had  not  made  his  escape  while 
Lenine  had  contrived  to  withdraw  to  a  place  of 
safety,  Trotzky  acquired  an  immense  prestige 
among  the  Russian  anarchists.  This  prestige  was 
based  entirely  on  imagination,  for  if  the  truth  be 
told  Trotzky  would  have  liked  to  have  escaped 
the  warrant  which  Kerensky  was  at  last  induced 
to  sign  for  his  imprisonment,  but  the  anarchist 
was  taken  unawares  and  could  not  do  so.  It 
must  be  added  that  when  he  was  taken  to  the 
police  station  before  he  was  sent  to  prison,  he 
was  in  such  a  state  of  funk  that  he  could  hardly 
say  a  word  and  trembled  like  a  leaf.  The  man 
was  only  a  braggart,  and  to  this  day  it  is  incom- 
prehensible how  he  could  rise  to  his  subsequent 
position  of  importance.  At  least  it  would  be  in- 
comprehensible if  one  did  not  know  the  power  of 
money  and  was  not  aware  that  Germany  spent 
money  like  water  in  order  to  secure  for  Trotzky 
the  prominent  position  which  he  seized  so  qtiickly 
and  easily. 

As  soon  as  Trotzky  was  released,  he  began 
in  real  earnest  the  dirty  work  he  had  pledged 
himself  to  perform.     The  Korniloff  incident  — 

237 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

one  that  caused  Germany  considerable  anxiety  — 
happened  at  this  time.  If  the  attempt  of  the 
Cossack  general  had  succeeded,  it  is  likely  that 
the  treaty  of  Brest-Litovsk  would  never  have 
been  signed.  Here  again  secret  influences  inter- 
fered and  Kerensky  was  induced  to  make  the  most 
fatal  among  his  many  fatal  mistakes  and  to  side 
against  the  general.  I  must  add  that  at  this 
juncture,  as  in  so  many  others,  the  efforts  of 
Germany  to  subdue  all  the  orderly  elements  in 
Russia  and  to  have  them  overpowered  by  the 
rising  forces  of  the  Bolsheviki  were  attended  with 
such  remarkable  luck  that  it  savored  of  the  extra- 
ordinary and  certainly  constituted  one  of  the 
phenomena  of  a  phenomenal  epoch.  Spending 
money  freely  does  not  explain  It  entirely. 
Corruption  is  only  possible  to  a  certain  point, 
and  in  the  whole  Bolshevik  Revolution  this  point 
was  surpassed  to  an  extent  which  Is  almost  in- 
credible —  at  least  It  would  be  Incredible  If  we 
did  not  know  the  base  nature  of  the  men  who  fell 
victims  to  this  corruption,  or  rather  who  accepted 
it  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  who  were  but  too 
glad  to  profit  by  it  and  enrich  themselves  at 
the  expense  of  poor  bleeding  Russia. 


238 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

HOW   GERMAN    MONEY   WAS    TRANSFERRED   TO 
PETROGRAD 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  difficulty  which 
the  German  Foreign  Office  found  in  transferring 
to  Russia  the  large  sums  it  had  decided  to  put 
at  the  disposal  of  its  agents  in  that  country  as 
well  as  to  the  Bolshevik!  to  whom  it  had  promised 
as  much  money  as  should  be  required  in  order  to 
secure  to  Germany  not  only  a  separate  peace  with 
Russia  but  also  the  complete  control  of  the  vast 
material  resources  of  the  former  Russian  Empire. 
I  must  add  that  though  the  German  government 
declared  to  whomsoever  wished  to  hear  that  it 
was  going  to  win  the  war  and  in  spite  of  its  most 
strenuous  efforts  to  persuade  its  own  subjects  of 
the  fact,  it  was  far  from  feeling  so  assured  as 
it  pretended  to  be.  The  entrance  of  the  United 
States  into  the  conflict  had  alarmed  it  considerably, 
for  it  was  well  aware  of  the  immense  advantages 
which  both  Enghnd  and  France  would  reap  by 
the  appearance  in  the  field  of  such  a  powerful 
ally.     The  necessity  of  releasing  the  troops  occu- 

239 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

pied  on  the  eastern  front  became  more  and  more 
imperative  with  each  passing  day,  and  the  need 
to  have  at  Germany's  disposal  the  control  of 
new  sources  of  raw  materials  was  also  a  grave 
question  on  which  the  fate  of  the  war  perhaps 
depended.  The  German  General  Staff  under- 
stood perfectly  the  difficulties  of  the  situation,  and 
on  that  account  decided  that  it  was  worth  while 
making  the  heaviest  financial  sacrifices  possible  in 
order  to  come  to  an  understanding  with  Russia, 
or  at  least  with  what  remained  of  Russia  after 
all  its  disasters.  The  necessity  of  the  hour  made 
Germany  forget  the  disgrace  of  an  alliance  with 
such  disreputable  people  as  the  Bolshevik  leaders 
and  even  the  danger  of  their  being  able  to  spread 
their  mischievous  doctrines  further  than  the  Rus- 
sian frontier.  The  motive  of  this  grave  step 
was  to  try  and  obtain  by  corruption  what  the 
luck  of  war  had  been  unable  to  secure  in  spite  of 
the  victories  which  the  German  army  had  won 
whenever  it  had  found  itself  opposed  by  the 
troops  of  the  former  Czar. 

But  to  come  back  to  the  difficulty  of  transferring 
these  immense  sums  for  the  work  of  propaganda 
Germany  had  decided  to  undertake.  Herr  Stein- 
wachs  hit  upon  an  ingenious  method  of  sending 
cash  to  Petrograd.     He  enlisted  the  services  of  an 

240 


GERMANY  MONEY  TRANSFERRED 

establishment  of  credit  in  Stockholm,  to  the  direc- 
tor of  which  he  had  at  one  time  furnished  funds 
which  he  required  for  some  stock  exchange  opera- 
tion on  a  larger  scale  than  he  would  be  able  to 
do  in  the  usual  course  of  business.  Working 
with  this  house  Herr  Steinwachs  embarked  in  a 
most  complicated  enterprise  the  main  object  of 
which  was  to  try  and  eliminate  every  trace  of 
the  real  sources  from  which  Lenine,  Trotzky 
and  their  friends  drew  the  large  amounts  of 
money  of  which  they  disposed  at  one  time. 

This  establishment  of  credit  was  none  other 
than  the  Nya  Bank  in  Stockholm.  Ever  since 
the  beginning  of  the  war  the  director,  Aschberg 
by  name,  had  been  helping  the  German  govern- 
ment to  obtain  goods  from  neutral  countries  and 
he  had  also  made  himself  useful  to  Germany  in 
other  matters.  He  had,  for  instance,  associated 
himself  with  M.  Maliniak  in  arranging  the  famous 
interview  between  M.  Protopopoff  and  the  Banker 
Warburg  during  the  autumn  of  191 6.  Aschberg 
had  been  present  at  this  interview  and  had  dis- 
cussed with  the  Russian  statesman  the  conditions 
under  which  peace  might  be  concluded  between 
Russia  and  the  German  Empire.  The  Swedish 
banker  was  an  exceedingly  able  man  and  one  to 
whom  the  manipulation  of  figures  was  child's  play 

241 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

so  completely  had  he  mastered  the  art.  Later 
on  when  the  United  States  government  published 
the  documents  which  established  the  part  played 
by  the  Nya  Bank  in  financing  the  Bolshevik  move- 
ment in  Russia,  Aschberg  protested  indignantly 
against  the  "  libel,"  as  he  called  it,  and  offered 
to  have  the  books  of  the  bank  examined  by  the 
Allies,  a  proposition  that  could  only  provoke  a 
smile  as  it  was  quite  evident  that  nothing  would 
be  found  in  the  books  which  would  justify  the 
statements  contained  in  the  documents  unearthed 
by  the  American  Secret  Service.  So  far  as  the 
Nya  Bank  was  concerned  the  transfer  of  money 
to  Lenine  and  his  friends  had  been  made  in  the 
name  of  persons  which  nothing  could  connect  with 
the  agitator  or  his  party. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  was  that  the  Nya  Bank, 
as  Captain  Rustenberg  well  knew  as  he  was  one 
of  the  people  who  were  concerned  in  this  transac- 
tion, transferred  something  like  fifteen  million 
rubles  to  the  account  of  a  certain  Furstenberg 
in  Luleo  in  Finland,  debiting  this  sum  to  War- 
burg in  Hamburg.  Furstenberg  in  his  turn  made 
it  over  to  Trotzky's  trusted  agent  Antonov  who 
went  to  Haparanda  to  receive  it.  Here  it  must 
be  noted  that  the  money  was  forwarded  from 
Luleo  to  Haparanda.     Antonov  carried  part  of 

242 


GERMANY  MONEY  TRANSFERRED 

it  to  Petrograd  and  transferred  the  rest  to  Mme. 
Soumentay  at  Helsingfors.  She  sent  it  in  a  letter 
of  credit  on  Moscow  to  Lenine's  wife  who  handed 
it  to  Kozlovsky  on  whom  was  laid  the  duty  of 
distributing  it  among  the  members  of  the  Soviets. 
After  all  these  manipulations  it  was  extremely 
difficult  to  find  out  the  real  origin  of  these  sums, 
and  it  would  have  been  next  to  impossible  to  do 
so,  if  Herr  Steinwachs,  who  was  always  careful, 
had  not  kept  the  duplicate  of  the  original  trans- 
fer made  by  the  Prussian  State  Bank  and  by  the 
Deutsche  Bank  in  Berlin  to  Mr.  Warburg,  which 
enabled  the  Director  at  a  certain  moment,  as  I 
shall  relate  presently,  to  hold  a  pistol  at  the  heads 
of  Lenine  and  Trotzky. 

In  addition  to  these  fifteen  millions  which  were 
but  the  initial  payment  in  the  vast  conspiracy 
which  was  to  prove  so  successful,  other  millions 
were  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  Bolsheviki  out  of 
the  money  which  the  German  government  had  on 
deposit  in  the  different  Russian  banks  and  which 
had  been  sequestrated  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  How  much  this  was  would  be  difficult  to 
say,  but  I  can  say  that  one  of  the  reasons  why 
Lenine  and  Trotzky  closed  all  the  banks  and  had 
all  their  books  destroyed  was  because  they  wanted 
to  obliterate  all  traces  of  the  gigantic  bribes  which 

243 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

they  had  accepted  and  in  their  turn  handed  to 
others. 

Madame  Soumentay  made  another  journey  to 
Finland  and  met  German  agents  who  handed  to 
her  nineteen  million  rubles  which,  according  to 
a  special  arrangement,  were  to  constitute  the  per- 
sonal reward  of  the  following:  Lenine,  Trotzky, 
Zinovieff,  Antonov,  Kamenev,  Kozlovsky  and  her- 
self. Joffe  was  not  included  in  this  list  as  it  was 
understood  that  he  was  to  receive  a  special  grati- 
fication. The  money  destined  for  Lenine  was  not 
paid  to  him  but  to  his  wife  in  whose  possession 
part  of  it  was  found  during  a  house  search  in 
her  flat  in  the  three  days  Trotzky  was  in  prison 
and  her  husband  in  hiding  in  Finland. 

There  is  an  amusing  incident  connected  with 
this  last  sum  of  nineteen  millions.  The  German 
Foreign  Office  cavilled  at  the  generosity  of  its 
Intelligence  Department  and  tried  to  reduce  the 
amount  it  had  engaged  to  hand  over  to  its  Russian 
friends.  The  "  Professor,"  who  always  held  the 
opinion  that  honor  ought  to  exist  between  thieves, 
even  if  he  did  not  consider  it  indispensable  among 
honest  folk,  did  not  care  to  disappoint  Trotzky 
and  the  other  anarchists.  Angry  discussions  on 
this  subject  occurred  between  the  "  Professor  " 
and  the  German  Chancellor  which  might  have 

244 


GERMANY  MONEY  TRANSFERRED 

taken  an  acute  form  If  Herr  Steinwachs  had  not 
come  forward  with  a  brilliant  Idea  which  settled 
the  question  to  the  satisfaction  of  everybody. 
When  the  German  government  occupied  Poland, 
it  had  had  printed  In  Berlin  Russian  banknotes 
with  which  it  paid  the  expenses  of  Its  army  of 
occupation  In  the  newly  conquered  country,  Herr 
Steinwachs  suggested  that  they  should  pay  Trotzky 
with  this  spurious  paper  money  and  It  was  done. 
The  latter  never  said  a  word,  perhaps  because 
he  knew  that  It  would  have  been  useless  to  pro- 
test. But  when  the  German  Embassy  was  re- 
established In  Russia  and  the  new  Ambassador 
Count  von  MIrbach  arrived  in  Moscow,  Trotzky 
sent  for  the  director  of  the  bank  where  the  Ger- 
man Envoy  was  accredited  and  handed  over  the 
rouble  notes  which  he  had  received  from  Germany 
against  genuine  notes.  Then  Trotzky  instructed 
the  director  to  use  the  false  notes  In  paying  the 
Count  whenever  the  latter  tried  to  use  his  letter 
of  credit. 

There  was  another  person  who  played  a  consid- 
erable part  In  this  business  of  subsidizing  the 
Bolshevik!  —  a  certain  Polish  Jew  named  Radek 
who  had  been  spending  his  time  between  Chrlstl- 
anla,  Copenhagen,  Stockholm  and  London  where 
he  went  once  or  twice  during  the  first  months 

245 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

of  the  war.  Before  the  overthrow  of  the  Ker- 
ensky  government  this  Radek  was  the  means  of 
communication  between  the  German  and  Russian 
revolutionaries.  He  was  an  exceedingly  pleasant 
person  who  pretended  that  he  was  a  journalist 
and  in  this  role  he  secured  an  entrance  into  various 
circles  where  he  would  never  have  been  admitted 
otherwise.  The  German  Foreign  Office  had  a 
very  high  opinion  of  him,  and  though  he  was  con- 
stantly quarreling  with  another  of  its  agents,  Par- 
vus who  made  his  headquarters  at  Copenhagen, 
the  special  pet  of  the  "  Professor,"  he  was  con- 
sidered so  useful  that  they  overlooked  in  his  case 
the  principle  which  governed  the  whole  organiza- 
tion —  that  of  never  tolerating  any  discord  be- 
tween the  people  whom  it  employed  in  matters 
where  their  duties  were  concerned, 

Radek  was  the  connecting  link  between  the 
Poles  of  Galicia,  Posen  and  the  south  of  Russia. 
They  never  suspected  his  identity  but  believed 
him  a  sincere  patriot.  Captain  Rustenberg  had 
occasion  to  appreciate  his  ability  and  the  insinuat- 
ing manner  with  which  he  contrived  to  win  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people  whose  secrets  he  wished  to 
penetrate.  Radek  was  utterly  unscrupulous  and 
he  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  man  who  first 
suggested  to  Trotzky  the  advisability  of  getting 

246 


GERMANY  MONEY  TRANSFERRED 

rid  of  the  unfortunate  Nicholas  II  and  shifting 
the  responsibility  and  blame  for  this  atrocious 
murder  on  the  Ural  Soviets.  These  Soviets  were 
composed  entirely  of  men  sent  from  Petrograd 
with  orders  to  execute  the  Czar,  a  crime  that  had 
already  been  decided  upon  when  the  former  ruler 
was  removed  from  Tobolsk  to  Ekaterinburg.  In 
his  way  Radek  was  another  fanatic  of  the  Leninc 
type,  but  he  was  far  more  refined  than  the  latter, 
and  had  better  manners  as  well  as  the  appearance 
of  a  gentleman  which  the  Russian  anarchist  never 
pretended  to  be.  He  understood  perfectly  the 
psychology  of  the  people  with  whom  he  had  to 
deal,  and  he  always  declared  that  there  was  noth- 
ing bad  enough  or  mean  enough  that  one  could 
not  propose  to  Trotzky  to  do,  provided  he  was 
paid  sufficiently  for  it. 

I  may  add  that  so  far  as  Captain  Rustenberg's 
experience  with  Trotzky  was  concerned,  he  found 
that  this  severe  judgment  was  entirely  justified  and 
one  of  the  reasons  for  his  retirement  from  his 
position  in  the  German  Secret  Service  was  the 
repugnance  he  felt  towards  this  obnoxious  individ- 
ual with  whom  he  was  so  often  thrown  in  con- 
tact. 


247 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

TROTZKY   IS   TOLD   TO   KEEP    HIS   PROMISES 

I  suppose  that  I  shall  surprise  no  one  when 
I  say  that  nobody  in  Berlin  trusted  Trotzky  in 
the  least.  He  was  a  necessary  instrument  in  the 
work  that  had  been  started  and  its  importance 
justified  any  kind  of  expenditure  or  compromise 
in  its  accomplishment.  But  at  the  same  time 
neither  the  "  Professor  "  nor  Herr  Steinwachs, 
who  had  more  to  do  with  Trotzky  than  anybody 
else,  had  ever  believed  that  he  would  ever  be  any- 
thing more  than  an  instrument.  Without  him  the 
dismemberment  of  Russia  would  have  been  im- 
possible because  no  one  in  that  country  would 
ever  had  sufficient  courage  and  unscrupulousness 
to  consent  to  it.  It  required  the  astuteness  of 
an  interested  fanatic  like  Lenine  and  of  a  Jew 
adventurer  like  Trotzky  to  bring  it  to  pass. 

And  even  Trotzky  at  one  time  felt  something 
which  bore  a  faint  resemblance  to  qualms  of  con- 
science. He  had  believed  that  he  was  cleverer 
than  was  the  case  and  had  imagined  that  if  he 

248 


TROTZKY'S  PROMISES 

only  succeeded  In  becoming  the  master  of  Russia, 
he  would  be  strong  enough  to  keep  the  German 
Invasion  at  bay  and  to  refuse  to  fulfill  the  un- 
savory mission  with  which  he  had  been  entrusted. 
When  he  was  put  to  the  test,  he  prevaricated, 
fenced  about,  piled  one  excuse  on  top  of  the  other, 
and  tried  to  escape  from  the  chains  which  bound 
him.  Of  course  It  was  of  no  avail,  and  at  the 
last  he  had  to  acquiesce  In  many  things  when  he 
would  have  preferred  to  refuse. 

All  his  steps  in  Petrograd  were  watched.  He 
wanted  money,  and  the  only  people  from  whom  he 
could  get  it  were  Shylocks  in  their  way.  Here 
it  may  be  remarked  that  one  of  the  principal  actors 
in  the  final  act  of  the  sad  tradegy  at  Brest-LItovsk 
was  a  banker  named  Rubinstein.  Before  the  war 
he  had  played  an  equivocal  part  In  the  financial 
world  In  St.  Petersburg  and  at  one  time  had  been 
arrested  by  the  government  of  the  Czar  under  the 
pretext  that  he  had  speculated  in  an  unlawful 
manner  on  the  Stock  Exchange.  In  reality  his 
arrest  was  due  to  the  suspicion  that  he  was  a 
German  agent  and  the  Russian  military  authori- 
ties wanted  to  assure  themselves  of  the  fact,  a 
desire  which  was  frustrated  because  the  financier 
was  far  too  clever  to  keep  anything  of  an  incrim- 
inating nature  about  his  person  or  in  his  house. 

249 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

He  was  released  but  expelled  from  the  capital, 
a  punishment  he  bore  with  equanimity  for  he 
knew  that  his  exile  would  not  be  of  long  duration. 
Previous  to  the  war  he  had  been  instrumental  in 
buying  an  enormous  quantity  of  shares  in  various 
banks  and  industrial  enterprises  in  Russia  for  the 
account  of  the  German  government.  It  used  him 
as  its  man  of  straw  and  he  made  large  sums  in 
these  transactions.  When  he  saw  that  the  hour 
had  struck  when  once  more  he  would  be  a  financial 
power  in  Russia,  he  put  himself  at  the  disposal  of 
the  German  Intelligence  Department  to  facilitate 
any  financial  matters  it  might  have  to  handle  in 
Petrograd  or  Moscow. 

Trotzky  detested  and  feared  Rubinstein,  as  the 
financier  had  been  clever  enough  to  let  him  know 
that  he  had  sufficient  evidence  that  he  was  the 
tool  of  Germany  against  him  to  induce  Trotzky 
to  leave  him  severely  alone.  In  his  way  Rubin- 
stein was  a  Bolshevik  too,  inasmuch  as  he  strongly 
objected  to  any  one  possessing  what  he  lacked  for 
himself.  In  other  respects  he  was  as  conservative 
as  the  man  in  the  French  Revolution  who  was 
asked  what  he  would  do  if  circumstances  changed 
and  another  government  should  compel  him  to 
return  to  the  vast  estates  he  had  bought  after 
they  had  been  confiscated  from  members  of  the 

250 


TROTZKY'S  PROMISES 

nobility.  His  reply  was  that  he  could  not  see 
how  such  a  thing  could  be  done  considering  that 
he  had  acquired  these  estates  legally. 

I  must  remark  here,  that  in  the  documents 
published  by  the  United  States  government  which 
relate  to  the  bribery  of  the  Bolsheviki  by  Germany 
there  is  a  document,  No.  68,  dated  Berlin,  July 
14,  19 1 7,  which  is  signed  by  the  same  Parvus  to 
whom  I  have  already  alluded.  The  document 
contains  the  following  phrase:  "Mr.  Mir, 
Stockholm:  We  are  transferring  to  your  name 
through  Mr.  I.  Ruchvergen  180,000  marks  for 
the  expenses  of  your  journey  to  Finland.  The 
balance  will  be  at  your  disposal  for  agitation 
against  England  and  France.  The  letters  of 
Malianik  and  Stocklov  which  were  sent  were  re- 
ceived and  will  be  considered." 

It  has  been  supposed  that  Mir,  which  signifies 
peace  in  Russian,  meant  Lenine  who  at  that  time 
was  in  hiding  and  was  suspected  of  being  in 
Stockholm.  These  suppositions  are  not  correct. 
Lenine  never  came  to  Sweden  at  that  time  and  was 
hidden  in  Finland  during  the  brief  period  of  his 
banishment  from  Russia.  The  nickname  Mir 
was  used  by  Kozlovsky  who  in  that  month  of 
July,  19 1 7,  came  to  Sweden  secretly  to  hold  con- 
ferences with  Herr  Steinwachs  and  other  mem- 

251 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

bers  of  the  German  Intelligence  Department. 
Malianik  is  an  error  in  translation  and  should 
read  Maliniak.  Stocklov  was  an  alias  which  was 
used  in  turn  by  Antonov  and  Kameneff,  while 
Ruchvergen  is  another  alias  under  which  Rubin- 
stein travelled  several  times  to  Paris  and  London 
before  the  war  and  which  he  also  used  in  mov- 
ing about  in  Russia  and  Finland  after  it  had 
started. 

I  have  sometimes  tried  to  fix  in  my  mind  the 
exact  responsibility  for  the  ruin  of  Russia  on  the 
persons  who  were  most  answerable  for  it.  I  at 
first  thought  that  with  all  my  knowledge  of  the 
inner  workings  of  the  German  Secret  Service  this 
would  be  an  easy  matter.  But  when  I  plunged 
into  the  subject,  I  was  to  discover  that  in  the 
association  of  traitors  called  Lenine,  Trotzky  and 
Company  no  man  existed  on  whom  it  was  possible 
to  put  the  burden  of  the  blame  for  the  disgraceful 
transactions  which  culminated  in  the  treaty  of 
Brest-Litovsk  more  than  on  any  other.  They 
were  all  equally  guilty,  all  equally  venal,  and  all 
equally  criminal. 

This  so-called  peace  over  which  the  Germans 
made  such  a  fuss  was  just  as  much  a  crime  from 
the  German  point  of  view  as  it  was  from  the 
Israelitic,  for  no  real  Russian  took  part  In  It  with 

252 


TROTZKY'S  PROMISES 

the  exception  of  Lenine,  and  he  refused  more 
than  once  to  call  himself  a  Russian,  claiming  that 
he  was  an  Internationalist  before  everythmg  else. 
It  was  a  crime  from  the  German  viewpoint  be- 
cause it  shattered  the  last  fragments  of  respect- 
ability which  Germany  still  possessed  in  the  eyes 
of  neutral  nations,  and  it  was  such  a  flagrant 
breach  of  the  most  elementary  notions  of  honor 
and  generosity  from  a  conquering  foe  to  a  de- 
feated enemy  that  it  simply  fortified  the  idea  with 
which  the  Allies  had  tried  to  impress  the  world 
from  the  first  days  of  the  war  —  that  the  Ger- 
mans were  a  people  with  whom  one  could  have  no 
dealings  or  with  whom  one  could  treat.  It  would 
have  been  infinitely  more  respectable  for  Ger- 
many to  seize  Russia  as  it  seized  Belgium  and  de- 
clare that  it  was  her  property  than  simply  compel 
Russia  to  give  in  to  her  and  to  add  disgrace  to 
her  misfortunes  and  burdens. 

This  is  of  course  a  digression;  I  now  return 
to  Trotzky.  It  sounds  almost  incredible,  but  for 
a  time  the  man  had  the  idea  of  having  himself 
proclaimed  Emperor  or  at  least  Dictator  of  Russia 
and  as  such  to  assume  absolute  control  of  all  its 
riches  and  possessions.  His  head  had  been  quite 
turned  by  his  phenomenal  success  which  he  meant 
to  carry  on  to  the  utmost  limits,  eliminating  from 

253 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

his  path  every  obstacle  which  could  prevent  him 
from  carrying  out  his  plans.  This  went  so  far 
that  if  the  reports  from  German  agents  which 
reached  Berlin  during  the  summer  and  late  autumn 
of  19 17  are  true,  he  inspired  the  two  attempts 
which  were  made  at  that  time  to  assassinate 
Lenine  of  whom  for  many  reasons  he  would  like 
to  have  rid  himself. 

At  first  he  attempted  to  fool  Germany  about 
the  pact  he  had  with  her  by  granting  some  of 
her  minor  demands  such  as  the  establishing  in 
Petrograd  of  a  special  section  of  the  General 
Staff  at  whose  disposal  he  placed  spacious  offices 
in  one  of  the  Imperial  Palaces  which  his  followers 
had  seized.  He  allowed  German  agents  to  issue 
orders  to  the  army  in  his  name,  and  he  pretended 
to  accept  as  true  the  reported  demands  for  an 
immediate  peace  which  came  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  demands  which  in  reality  had  in  large 
part  been  fabricated  in  Petrograd  by  his  orders. 
These  demands  furnished  him  with  a  pretext  for 
starting  official  negotiations  with  Germany  with 
a  view  to  a  cessation  of  hostilities  which,  as  he 
declared,  was  about  to  be  imposed  on  him  by  pub- 
lic opinion  in  Russia.  This  last  phrase  sounded 
almost  like  one  of  derision,  when  it  was  taken 
into  consideration  that  there  was  no  public  opinion 

254 


TROTZKY'S  PROMISES 

in  the  former  realm  of  the  Czar,  for  all  who 
might  have  contributed  to  forming  one  were 
either  killed  or  in  prison.  Trotzky  had  an  easy 
way  of  getting  rid  of  his  enemies  and  adversaries. 
He  either  murdered  them  or  put  them  under  lock 
and  key. 

But  while  Trotzky  pretended  submission  to  Ger- 
many's wishes  he  was  in  an  underhanded  way 
working  against  her  and  trying  to  get  rid  of  her. 
When  he  realized  at  last  that  this  would  be  im- 
possible, he  put  obstacles  in  her  way  so  as  to 
oblige  her  to  make  more  concessions  than  she 
already  had  done  in  money  matters.  He  had 
a  tremendous  appetite  and  his  followers  shared 
it  with  him.  They  began  by  asking  for  thousands ; 
these  turned  into  millions,  and  there  seemed  no 
reason  why  the  millions  should  not  be  transformed 
into  billions.  By  that  time  Russian  money  had 
lost  its  value,  so  that  a  large  amount  was  required 
to  make  up  what  Trotzky  and  his  friends  consid- 
ered a  modest  sum. 

All  these  prevarications,  however,  availed 
him  nothing  though  they  hampered  Germany  con- 
siderably on  her  way.  At  last  it  was  decided  to 
carry  matters  off  with  a  high  hand,  and  one  fine 
morning  Trotzky  and  Lenine  were  told  that  they 
had  to  repair  to  a  certain  spot  on  the  Finnish 

255 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

border  where  both  Herr  Steinwachs  and  the 
"  Professor  "  himself  would  interview  them. 

They  did  not  like  this.  Indeed  they  would 
not  have  been  human  if  they  had,  for  it  required 
no  enormous  intelligence  to  understand  that  this 
meeting  was  unlikely  to  prove  a  pleasant  one. 
But  resistance  was  out  of  the  question,  and  so 
the  two  friends  or  rather  the  two  accomplices 
in  the  conspiracy  about  to  unfold  itself  started 
on  their  journey  though  not  without  considerable 
misgivings  as  to  its  results. 

If  they  had  been  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
Herr  Steinwachs  alone,  it  is  likely  that  they  would 
not  have  fared  well  by  any  means.  But  the 
"  Professor  "  all  his  life  had  been  used  to  diplo- 
matic blandishments,  and  he  never  cared  to  call 
a  spade  a  spade.  He  therefore  received  the  two 
anarchists  with  a  bland  suavity  and  tried  to  put 
them  at  their  ease  as  much  as  possible.  Then 
he  mentioned  the  necessity  of  keeping  certain 
promises  that  had  been  made.  When  Trotzky 
tried  to  assure  him  that  this  had  been  done,  the 
*'  Professor  "  contradicted  him  so  mildly  that  any- 
one who  did  not  know  him  would  never  have 
suspected  that  he  was  extending  to  his  visitor  a 
hand  gloved  in  velvet  but  made  of  hard  steel.  He 
did  not  allow  Trotzky  or  Lenine  to  offer  any 

256 


TROTZKY'S  PROMISES 

excuses  and  he  invariably  brought  them  back  to 
the  beginning  of  the  conversation.  At  last  when 
Trotzky  attempted  to  gain  time  by  saying  that 
things  could  not  be  hurried  because  the  feelings 
and  opinions  of  the  army  and  proletariat  had  to 
be  considered,  the  "  Professor "  pulled  a  small 
slip  of  paper  from  his  pocket  and  put  it  under 
Trotzky's  eyes,  adding  at  the  same  time  that  prob- 
ably he  would  not  care  for  any  one  to  know  its 
contents,  not  even  Mr.  Lenine. 

This  paper  was  a  copy  of  the  secret  service 
reports  which  the  German  Intelligence  Depart- 
ment had  made  from  time  to  time  in  regard  to 
the  past  career  of  M.  Braunstein.  From  these 
reports  it  could  be  proved  that  while  he  pretended 
to  be  working  for  Germany,  he  had  received 
money  from  the  Russian  government  for  spying 
on  Germany,  and  that  in  general  he  had  been  play- 
ing a  double  game  all  through  his  political  ac- 
tivity, if  a  career  like  Trotzky's  can  be  called  by 
that  name.  The  paper  also  contained  the  phono- 
graph records  of  his  various  conversations  with 
the  directors  of  the  Secret  Service  in  Berlin  which 
had  been  taken  and  kept  without  Trotzky's  knowl- 
edge. 

After  Trotzky  had  read  this  paper  things  went 
off  smoothly,   and  the   "  Professor "   and  Herr 

257 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

Steinwachs  parted  from  the  rulers  of  Russia  with 
the  assurance  that  the  delegations  of  their  re- 
spective countries  would  meet  within  a  few  days 
in  a  spot  to  be  selected  by  Germany  for  the  pur- 
pose of  at  last  signing  a  peace  treaty.  This 
treaty  was  to  establish  forever  German  rule  in 
what  had  once  been  Russia. 


258 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  kaiser's  new  FRIEND,   M.   ADOLPHE  JOFFE 

If  we  are  to  believe  the  reports  which  came 
from  this  journey  of  the  two  anarchists  to  Canossa, 
Lenine  and  Trotzky  did  not  feel  particularly 
elated  at  the  results  of  the  "  friendly "  inter- 
view they  had  had  with  Herr  Steinwachs  and 
the  "  Professor."  Trotzky  indeed  did  not  hide 
his  sorrow  and  discouragement.  His  ideals,  if 
such  a  man  can  be  said  to  have  any,  had  been 
rudely  shattered,  and  he  had  discovered  that  while 
he  had  thought  himself  more  clever  than  other 
people  there  were  those  in  the  world  who  were 
much  more  clever  than  he  was.  The  discovery 
did  not  please  him  in  the  least,  the  less  so  that, 
as  he  had  ascertained  at  his  peril,  he  was  bound 
hand  and  foot  to  the  masters  whom  he  had  him- 
self selected  and  to  whom  he  had  promised,  il 
not  sworn,  allegiance,  in  a  moment  of  weakness  he 
deplored  without  regretting.  He  was  shrewd 
enough  to  know  that  the  incident  between  him  and 
the  "  Professor  "  might  be  repeated  ad  infinitum; 

259 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

that  his  hold  over  the  country  of  which  he  had 
behevcd  himself  the  absolute  dictator  was  pre- 
carious in  the  extreme  and  depended  entirely  on 
the  good  will  of  those  who  after  making  a  puppet 
of  him  held  him  at  their  mercy. 

Of  course  it  quite  entered  into  his  views  to  say 
that  Russia  was  so  entirely  worn  out  by  the  three 
years  of  war  and  the  Revolution  it  had  just  gone 
through,  that  it  could  not  go  on  with  any  struggle 
and  that  the  only  thing  it  could  do  was  to  lay 
down  its  arms  and  accept  the  mercy,  such  as  it 
was,  of  its  enemies.  But  Trotzky  did  not  want 
to  see  the  enemy  established  in  his  own  strong- 
hold and  ruling  in  Petrograd  and  Moscow  just 
as  if  he  did  not  exist.  This  hurt  his  feelings 
and  wounded  his  vanity,  and  though  he  said  noth- 
ing, yet  he  had  thought  a  good  deal  while  listen- 
ing to  the  smooth  words  of  Herr  Steinwachs  and 
the  compliments  of  the  "  Professor."  Nothing 
in  the  world,  however,  can  fight  against  facts,  and 
it  was  certain  facts  that  Trotzky,  alias  Braunstein, 
would  have  liked  to  be  rid  of.  When  he  returned 
to  Petrograd,  it  was  noticed  that  he  was  quite 
melancholy  and  out  of  temper,  and  that  though 
he  was  quite  as  violent  in  the  expression  of  his 
opinions  he  appeared  less  eager  than  ever  before 
to  put  them  into  practical  use.     Once  or  twice 

260 


THE  KAISER'S  NEW  FRIEND 

he  quarrelled  with  Lenine,  who,  somber  fanatic 
that  he  was,  urged  him  to  fight  against  what  was 
left  of  the  old  state  of  things  in  Russia  and 
especially  against  the  hated  "  Bourgous "  by 
which  was  meant  anybody  who  possessed  anything 
in  the  world  besides  his  own  skin.  He  also  urged 
Trotzky  to  bring  about  the  establishment  of  this 
new  era  about  which  they  had  been  talking  so 
many  years,  an  era  in  which  perfect  equality  was 
to  reign;  when  no  one  would  be  richer  than  his 
neighbor,  and  when  the  only  men  of  genius  recog- 
nized in  the  world  would  be  Trotzky  and  his 
friends  Lenine  and  Company. 

It  is  impossible  to  tell  what  would  have  hap- 
pened in  this  situation  if  another  person  had  not 
interfered,  one  to  whom  the  name  of  the  third 
robber  whom  the  old  French  saying  le  troisieme 
larron  has  made  famous  might  be  applied.  This 
third  person  was  no  less  a  personage  than  our 
old  friend  M.  Adolphe  Joffe,  now  an  important 
figure  in  the  world  of  politics. 

Joffe  had  not  been  in  Petrograd  during  the 
months  of  July  and  August,  19 17,  and  had  only 
returned  to  the  capital  after  the  November  Revo- 
lution which  had  put  his  friends  in  power.  He 
was  far  too  prudent  to  expose  himself  to  any 
peril,  and  he  thought  himself  far  too  important 

261 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

a  being  to  run  the  risk  of  depriving  his  party 
of  his  invaluable  services.  He  had,  therefore, 
elected  to  spend  these  months  of  uncertainty  in 
Berlin  where  he  had  become  quite  persona  grata, 
and  which  he  preferred  to  any  other  place  in 
the  world,  perhaps  because  there  was  none  other 
where  he  was  appreciated  so  well.  He  had 
shown  himself  most  useful  to  the  German  Intelli- 
gence Department  in  keeping  it  posted  as  to  what 
went  on  in  anarchist  circles  in  Germany  where 
the  renown  of  his  Russian  prowess  had  secured 
him  an  easy  entrance.  When  Herr  Steinwachs 
returned  to  Berlin  after  his  memorable  interview 
with  Lenine  and  Trotzky,  he  sent  for  M.  Joffe 
who  did  not  lose  a  moment  in  responding  to  his 
appeal.  They  discussed  the  situation  together 
and  then  M.  Joffe  packed  his  carpet  bag  —  he 
had  hardly  any  other  luggage;  revolutionists  gen- 
erally travel  light  —  and  boarded  the  first  train 
that  would  carry  him  back  to  Petrograd. 

Joffe  was  welcomed  in  Petrograd  by  his  friends,' 
who  if  not  exactly  enthusiastic  were  at  least  cordial. 
He  was  considered  the  clever  man  of  his  party 
and  was  supposed,  no  one  could  tell  why,  to  be 
an  able  diplomat,  who  some  day,  if  it  pleased 
Germany  to  declare  him  so,  might  become  a  states- 
man of  ability  and  experience.     At  all  events  he 

262 


THE  KAISER'S  NEW  FRIEND 

was  possessed  of  that  Jewish  cunning  which  makes 
persons  of  his  race  open  their  ears,  listen  to  what 
goes  on  around  them,  and  make  a  profit  out  of 
it.  M.  Jofte  did  not  need  to  open  his  ears  — 
Nature  had  provided  for  everything  that  he  re- 
quired in  that  respect,  and  had  also  given  him 
ears  which  were  wide  enough  and  large  enough 
to  allow  him  to  gather  every  kind  of  noise  that 
went  on  around  him.  He  was  a  crafty  individual, 
susceptible  of  great  things  in  the  way  of  meanness 
and  treachery.  When  he  saw  Trotzky,  he  noticed 
at  once  that  something  had  gone  wrong,  more 
so  than  he  had  believed  it  possible,  even  after 
his  interview  with  Herr  Steinwachs  who  had  not 
kept  secret  from  Joffe  that  he,  the  Director,  had 
had  to  apply  thumb  screws  to  his  friend.  And 
Joffe  forthwith  proceeded  to  find  out  what  was 
troubling  to  such  an  extent  the  immortal  Braun- 
stein. 

Trotzky  was  only  too  glad  to  unburden  him- 
self to  his  comrade  in  the  Republic  or  rather  In 
the  State  which  owned  Lenine  for  one  of  its 
leaders,  and  he  told  Joffe  the  substance  of  his 
conversation  with  the  "  Professor."  Joffe  was  an 
ingenious  fellow  and  applied  himself  to  the  task 
of  calming  down  Trotzky's  fears  and  of  persuad- 
ing him  that  he  had  nothing  to  fear;  that,  on  the 

263 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

contrary,  there  were  still  glorious  days  In  store  for 
him,  if  he  would  only  bring  common  sense  to  his 
aid  and  listen  to  the  good  advice  which  he  was 
going  to  give  him. 

Trotzky  listened  and  was  duly  rewarded,  for 
he  found  that  the  difficulties  which,  as  he  had 
thought,  would  beset  his  path,  could  be  cleared 
away  at  relatively  small  cost,  provided  that  a 
certain  amount  of  diplomacy  were  exercised,  so 
as  to  make  the  public  swallow  bitter  pills  with 
good  grace. 

First  of  all  Joffe  developed  the  marvelous,  even 
bordering  on  genius,  idea  of  saying  that  Russia 
was  neither  at  war  nor  at  peace  with  Germany. 
This  meant  that  she  was  determined  to  please 
everybody,  which  In  her  particular  case  meant 
Germany  and  the  Allies.  After  that  It  would  be 
easy  to  provoke  desertions  In  the  army  and  to 
spread  the  seeds  of  discontent  among  the  peasants 
and  the  proletariat  with  the  result  that  peace  would 
become  almost  a  necessity  against  which  nothing 
could  prevail,  because  It  would  be  established  In 
some  way  or  other  In  a  passive,  If  not  In  an  active, 
one. 

It  must  be  remarked  in  regard  to  the  desertions 
in  the  ranks  of  the  army  which  became  a  normal 
thing  during  that  fateful  autumn  and  winter,  that 

264 


THE  KAISER'S  NEW  FRIEND 

a  large  number  of  them  were  provoked  by  the 
government  and  were  due  to  an  active  German 
propaganda  which  persuaded  the  men  that  unless 
they  left  their  regiments  and  returned  home,  they 
would  not  receive  anything  in  the  general  dis- 
tribution of  land  to  which  the  authorities  were 
already  proceeding.  In  reality  the  government, 
such  as  it  was,  was  doing  nothing  of  the  kind 
and  never  meant  to  do  anything  of  the  kind,  for 
Trotzky  as  well  as  several  of  his  companions  in 
iniquity  were  buying  up  large  estates  from  mem- 
bers of  the  aristocracy  eager  to  get  rid  of  them 
so  as  to  save  something  out  of  the  wreck  of  their 
fortunes.  Of  course  the  anarchists  never  in- 
tended to  hand  these  lands  over  for  partition 
among  other  people. 

This  program  of  propaganda  had  been  faith- 
fully executed  and  it  allowed  the  Germans  to 
enter  Riga  which  was  abandoned  to  them  with- 
out the  faintest  effort  being  made  to  resist  their 
advancing  troops.  This  fact  implied  that  Petro- 
grad  was  in  danger  and  of  course  after  that  it 
became  the  duty  of  Trotzky  to  try  and  conclude 
the  best  possible  peace  in  a  hurry.  So  at  least 
was  the  explanation  he  and  Lenine  gave  the  pub- 
lic. Though  Lenine  had  kept  relatively  quiet  dur- 
ing the  preliminaries  of  the  great  treason  about 

265 


c\^ 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

to  be  performed  he  had  nevertheless  on  the  sly 
fanned  all  the  flames  that  were  about  to  be  let 
loose. 

At  this  juncture  M.  Joffe  modestly  offered  his 
service  as  a  mediator  between  the  German  Gen- 
eral Staff  and  the  government  of  which  his  friends 
were  members.  He  prided  himself  on  an  intimate 
acqu::intance  with  many  influential  personages  in 
Berlin  and  hinted  that  the  Kaiser  himself  had 
not  disdained  consulting  him  upon  occasion  when 
he  wanted  to  be  better  informed  than  he  could 
be  through  the  reports  of  his  own  agents  as  to 
what  was  going  on  in  Russia. 

Trotzky  caught  at  this  suggestion,  and  M.  Joffe 
was  sent  to  the  German  Headquarters  in  great 
secrecy.  He  was  well  treated  there  and  William 
II  actually  invited  him  to  lunch  and  made  the 
Jew  sit  at  his  left  hand,  the  Crown  Prince  being 
at  his  right.  M.  Joffe  thought  he  was  in  Heaven. 
Fierce  anarchist  that  he  professed  to  be,  he  was 
nevertheless  elated  at  the  honor  awarded  to  him. 

The  Kaiser  was  delighted  with  Joffe;  probably 
he  h^d  never  seen  a  more  amusing  ambassador, 
and  the  orirrinplity  of  this  new  type  of  diplomat 
amused  and  interested  him  extremely.  When 
they  parted  it  was  with  a  warm  handshake  and 
the  solemn  promise  on  the  part  of  William  II 

266 


THE  KAISER'S  NEW  FRIEND 

that  he  would  require  the  Russian  government 
to  accredit  M.  Joffe  to  Berlin  as  a  special  envoy 
after  the  conclusion  of  peace.  The  latter  made 
an  immediate  profit  out  of  this  promise,  and  pro- 
ceeded together  with  some  friends  in  the  Ger- 
man capital  to  lay  the  foundations  of  several 
important  financial  transactions  which  he  meant 
to  carry  through  to  a  prosperous  end  on  his 
return  in  his  new  capacity  of  Representative  of 
the  Russian  Republic. 

One  thing  he  settled  to  the  general  satisfaction 
—  that  neither  Lenine  nor  Trotzky  would  be  re- 
quired to  come  to  Brest-Litovsk,  the  town  which 
had  been  selected  as  the  seat  of  the  conference 
that  was  to  settle  the  fate  of  the  war  on  the  eastern 
front.  They  were  to  send  delegates  with  full  in- 
structions and  widely  extensive  permissions  to 
speak  in  their  names.  Later  on  this  arrangement 
would  allow  the  two  anarchists  in  case  of  emer- 
gency to  say  that  they  had  had  no  hand  in  the 
ignominious  treaty  about  to  be  signed  and  that 
those  to  whom  they  had  delegated  their  power 
had  not  consulted  them  but  had  acted  on  their 
own  initiative.  And  it  would  relieve  the  German 
plenipotentiaries  of  the  necessity  of  sitting  at  the 
same  table  with  individuals  whom  they  despised 
while    making    use    of    them.     Indeed,     Prince 

267 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

Leopold  of  Bavaria  who  was  to  be  the  Chief  Ger- 
man High  Officer  entrusted  with  the  negotiations 
had  declared  that  he  would  never  under  any  cir- 
cumstances whatever  see  or  have  anything  to  do 
with  Trotzky  and  Lenine.  This  good  prince  did 
not  seem  to  realize  that  between  the  two  individ- 
uals and  M.  Adolphe  Joffe  who  was  to  have  the 
place  of  honor  on  the  Russian  mission,  there  was 
only  the  difference  between  one  Jew  and  another, 
or  between  one  Bolshevik  and  another. 


268 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

AT   BREST-LITOVSK 

For  some  weeks  Lenine  and  Trotzky  tried  by 
every  kind  of  subterfuge  to  put  off  peace  negotia- 
tions, not  because  they  felt  compunction  about  the 
terrible  deed  they  were  about  to  perform  and 
sanction  but  because  they  considered  that  they 
had  not  been  paid  sufficiently  for  it.  They  tried 
to  drive  a  harder  bargain  than  they  had  accepted, 
pretending  that  they  had  only  been  paid  for  serv- 
ices already  rendered.  On  the  other  hand  the 
German  Intelligence  Department  protested  that 
these  services  had  so  far  been  of  doubtful  value 
and  that  the  work  of  agitation  which  they  had 
promised  to  carry  out  had  not  been  done  in  the 
proper  manner  or  spirit.  The  documents  pub- 
lished by  the  United  States  government  prove 
the  absolute  accuracy  of  my  statement.  In  Docu- 
ment 45,  dated  February  4,  19 18,  the  head  of  the 
German  General  Staff  in  Petrograd,  Major 
Lubcrt,  generally  known  in  his  secret  service  work 

269 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

as  Agasfer,  wrote  to  the  Bolshevik  Commissar 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  M.  Chicherin,  as  follows: 

"  By  instructions  of  the  representatives  of  our 
staff,  I  have  the  honor  to  ask  you  immediately 
to  recall  from  the  Ukrainian  front  the  agitators 
Bryansky,  Wulf,  Drabkin  and  Pittsker.  Their 
activity  has  been  recognized  as  dangerous  by  the 
German  General  Staff." 

Another  document  just  as  significant  is  dated 
February  3,  191 8.  It  is  signed  by  the  same 
"  Agasfer  "  and  is  also  addressed  to  Chicherin. 
It  reads: 

*'  According  to  instructions  of  the  representa- 
tives of  our  General  Staff,  I  have  the  honor  once 
more  to  insist  that  you  recall  from  Esthonia, 
Livonia  and  Courland  all  agitators  of  the  Central 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Soviet  of  Workmen 
and  Soldiers'  deputies." 

What  had  happened  was  this.  Trotzky  and 
Lenine  had  promised  the  German  government  that 
if  they  were  furnished  with  sufficient  funds  to 
do  so,  they  would  send  agitators  into  the  Baltic 
provinces.  The  large  landowners  in  these  prov- 
inces were  the  only  ones  in  sympathy  with  Ger- 
many and  the  Lettish  population,  on  the  other 
hand,  showed  violent   antagonism  to  her.     The 

270 


AT  BREST-LITOVSK 

two  anarchists  also  promised  to  start  a  peace 
propaganda  in  the  Ukraine  where  separatist  ten- 
dencies had  recently  come  to  the  fore.  The  Ger- 
man Staff  thought  the  plan  good,  but  Trotzky, 
once  in  possession  of  the  money  for  which  he 
asked,  had  used  it  to  foment  a  violent  propaganda 
not  for  peace  but  for  Bolshevism.  This  was  not 
quite  the  same  thing,  though  just  as  expensive, 
considering  that  he  appropriated  for  his  own  use 
and  that  of  several  of  his  trusted  lieutenants  part 
of  this  money.  Of  course  the  German  Intelli- 
gence Department  discovered  the  secret  at  once, 
but  it  was  very  difficult  to  make  either  Trotzky 
or  Lenine  responsible  for  this  breach  of  faith. 
They  had  the  ready  excuse  that  what  had  taken 
place  was  not  their  fault,  but  that  they  had  simply 
been  mistaken  In  regard  to  the  real  feelings  of 
the  men  they  had  sent  to  the  different  places  where 
it  had  been  thought  that  a  dove  holding  an  olive 
branch  in  its  beak  would  prove  an  acceptable 
visitor. 

Trotzky  tried  to  carry  with  a  high  hand  the 
position,  out  of  which  he  had  thought  for  a  time 
he  would  be  stormed,  by  retaliating  on  the  Ger- 
man Staff  and  accusing  It  of  duplicity  in  Its  con- 
duct towards  the  BolshevikI  In  regard  to  Fin- 
land.    He  pretended  that  the  German  govern- 

271 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

ment  was  helping  in  turn  the  different  parties 
which  were  fighting  for  supremacy  in  that  country. 
This  reproach  was  founded  on  fact,  and  this  of 
course  made  the  German  position  rather  embar- 
rassing. Thanks  to  the  good  advice  he  had  re- 
ceived from  his  friend  Joffe,  Trotzky  had  at  last 
mastered  the  situation.  He  now  understood  what 
he  had  failed  to  grasp  during  his  momentous  in- 
terview with  the  "  Professor  "  and  Herr  Stein- 
wachs  when  he  had  been  fairly  scared  out  of  his 
wits  that  it  would  be  just  as  embarrassing  for  the 
German  government  to  disclose  the  documents  it 
possessed  against  him  as  it  would  be  for  him  if 
they  became  public  property.  It  was  a  case 
where  corrupter  and  corrupted  were  both  so  vile 
that  there  was  nothing  to  choose  between  them. 
So  Trotzky  could  in  a  certain  sense  afford  to  smile 
and  snap  his  fingers  at  the  "  Professor."  Trotzky 
had  grasped  the  fact  that  it  was  impossible  for  Ger- 
many to  admit  that  she  had  bought  peace  by  an  un- 
holy compact  with  a  gang  of  adventurers  and  this 
knowledge  gave  him  a  strength  he  had  never  had 
before.  For,  and  I  believe  that  this  is  a  fact  which 
has  never  been  thoroughly  appreciated,  Trotzky 
was  essentially  a  coward.  When  he  was  arrested, 
he  became  so  nervous  that  it  was  pitiful  to  watch 
him  crawling  and  begging  for  mercy,  and  in  gen- 

272 


AT  BREST-LITOVSK 

eral  showing  all  the  abjectness  of  his  nature.  But 
like  all  cowards  he  was  a  braggart,  and  once  he 
knew  that  he  was  safe  he  became  as  insolent  as 
he  had  been  humble  before.  This  attitude, 
though  it  exasperated  the  German  Intelligence 
Department,  put  it  in  an  embarrassing  situation, 
for  there  were  moments  when  Trotzky  turned 
against  it  and  made  its  chiefs  feel  that  they  were 
as  much  at  his  mercy  as  he  was  at  theirs. 

In  the  meantime  M.  Joffe  was  working  steadily. 
During  that  fateful  winter  of  19 17-18,  he  made 
at  least  six  journeys  to  Sweden  and  to  Germany, 
and  with  a  financial  skill  that  did  him  credit  he 
settled  what  to  him  was  far  more  important  than 
the  fate  of  Russia  as  a  nation  about  which  he 
did  not  trouble  at  all  —  he  arranged  its  future 
from  the  industrial  and  commercial  point  of 
view.  In  accomplishing  this  he  contrived  to  get 
the  gratitude  embodied  in  several  large  checks 
from  different  German  and  Austrian  banks  to 
which  he  assured  by  secret  agreements  which  he 
undertook  to  have  approved  by  his  government 
enormous  advantages  and  the  most  complete  con- 
trol of  Russia's  resources,  finances  and  industry. 

One  of  the  conditions  of  these  agreements  was 
that  no  private  banks  should  be  allowed  to  open 
in  Russia  without  the  consent  of  the  Union  of 

273 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

German  and  Austrian  banks,  while  those  which 
had  existed  before  the  Revolution  were  to  be 
liquidated  immediately  and  their  licenses  were  not 
to  be  renewed,  A  special  agreement  was  entered 
upon  about  the  disposal  of  the  enormous  quantities 
of  Russian  notes  thrown  on  the  market  as  a  result 
of  the  Bolshevik  adventure.  They  formed  an 
amount  about  which  no  one  cared  to  speak  for 
fear  of  scaring  his  neighbor  and  were  a  most 
serious  item  to  be  considered  when  a  permanent 
settlement  was  reached.  Here  the  financial  abili- 
ties of  Joffe  came  to  the  fore  brilliantly.  He 
was  the  owner  of  millions  of  these  Russian  notes, 
printed  since  the  fall  of  the  Romanoffs,  and  he 
wanted,  of  course,  to  get  rid  of  them  under  the 
best  possible  conditions.  Joffe,  therefore,  ar- 
ranged that  the  expenses  of  the  army  of  occupa- 
tion in  Russia  should  be  paid  by  Germany  in  these 
notes,  as  well  as  all  her  acquisitions  of  raw  ma- 
terials and  other  articles  of  which  she  was  to  have 
a  monopoly  according  to  one  of  the  clauses  of  the 
peace  treaty  about  to  be  signed.  The  acceptance 
of  these  notes  was  to  be  made  compulsory,  and  in 
this  way  Germany  after  having  the  chance  of  buy- 
ing this  so-called  Russian  money  for  about  a  hun- 
dredth part  of  its  nominal  value  would  be  able  to 
hand  it  back  to  its  former  owners  at  face  value. 
.     274 


AT  BREST-LITOVSK 

By  this  rather  doubtful  financial  operation  she 
would  execute  a  brilliant  feat  of  commercial  genius 
for  which,  M.  Joffe  felt  convinced,  she  would  feel 
grateful  to  him. 

As  a  preparation  for  this  operation,  German 
agents  started  buying  rouble  notes  wherever  they 
could  be  found  and  all  the  Bolshevik  leaders 
hastened  to  offer  as  many  as  the  agents  wanted. 
Special  messengers  furnished  with  diplomatic 
passports  were  constantly  traveling  from  Russia 
to  Berlin  through  Warsaw  carrying  with  them 
valises  full  of  this  worthless  money.  Rumor  says 
that  Joffe  exported  fifteen  millions  for  his  per- 
sonal account  for  which  he  received  about  a  third 
of  that  sum.  This  constituted  a  handsome  profit 
when  one  considers  that  he  risked  nothing  in  this 
remarkable  transaction  except  his  reputation  in  his- 
tory, about  which  he  cared  nothing  for  he  did  not 
believe  in  the  retributive  justice  it  deals  people 
who  fall  under  its  judgments. 

Indeed  M.  Joffe  proved  himself  of  immense 
service  to  the  Bolshevik  cause  and  administration. 
He  paved  the  way  for  the  negotiations  which 
were  started  at  last  at  Brest-Litovsk  and  which 
culminated  in  the  treaty  signed  on  that  fateful 
day  which  saw  the  betrayal  of  Russia  consum- 
mated.    Trotzky  made  difficulties  before  he  ac- 

275 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

cepted  the  choice  of  this  town  as  the  seat  of  the 
conference.  For  one  thing  he  had  unpleasant  rec- 
ollections of  the  place,  for  he  had  once  been 
soundly  thrashed  there  by  one  of  his  coreligionists 
who  had  received  Trotzky  as  a  poor  exile  in 
hiding  from  the  police.  Trotzky  tried  to  carry 
away  the  spoons  in  his  bag,  but  was  detected  and 
chastised  without  mercy  or  consideration.  Every- 
body had  known  the  story  in  Brest-Litovsk  and 
probably  still  remembered  it  although  it  had  hap- 
pened years  before.  Trotzky  did  not  care  to 
have  any  such  reminiscences  brought  to  light  as 
they  were  sure  to  be  if  his  name  came  to  be  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  peace  that  was 
about  to  be  discussed.  So  he  fenced  about  and 
suggested  several  other  places  as  more  appropriate 
for  a  peace  conference.  But  he  had  to  do  with  a 
strong  party,  as  the  Kaiser  insisted  on  the  choice 
of  Brest-Litovsk  for  purely  personal  reasons.  In 
times  long  gone  by  when  a  mere  youth  the  Kaiser 
had  attended  military  manoeuvers  at  this  place  at 
the  invitation  of  Czar  Alexander  III.  The 
Kaiser  made  some  tactless  remark  and  was 
snubbed  by  the  Russian  sovereign  who  did  not 
relish  suggestions  as  to  the  possibility  of  one  of 
his  most  important  fortresses  ever  falling  into 
German  hands.     This   snubbing  rankled  in  the 

276 


AT  BREST-LITOVSK 

Kaiser's  mind,  and  he  considered  it  a  moral  satis- 
faction and  triumph  to  have  the  document  which 
virtually  transformed  Russia  into  a  German  prov- 
ince, signed  in  the  selfsame  town  that  had  wit- 
nessed his  humiliation.  Of  course  his  desire  pre- 
vailed, and  Trotzky  was  told  that  it  was  best  to 
submit  and  make  up  his  mind  to  the  inevitable. 
He  was  also  told  to  hurry  his  decision,  as  it  was 
indispensable  that  the  treaty  be  signed  at  last. 

The  choice  of  the  delegates  gave  rise  to  con- 
siderable discussion.  As  I  have  said,  neither 
Trotzky  nor  Lenine  wanted  to  put  their  names 
to  the  document  which  was  about  to  be  drawn  up. 
Neither  did  they  care  for  too  many  of  their 
partisans  to  be  implicated  in  it,  as  they  feared  that 
the  latter  might  revolt  at  the  last  moment  and  pro- 
test against  the  villainy.  As  a  result,  though  they 
sent  numerous  delegates  to  Brest-Litovsk,  only 
three  were  authorized  to  sign  the  treaty.  These 
three  were  the  inevitable  Joffe;  Kameneff,  one  of 
Trotzky's  most  trusted  lieutenants,  and  an  illiterate 
Jew  named  Batzenko.  There  was  an  imposing 
delegation  on  the  German  side.  Prince  Leopold 
of  Bavaria  was  at  the  head,  but  the  real  leaders 
were  General  von  Hoffman,  one  of  the  strong 
men  of  the  General  Staff,  and  Baron  von  Mirbach, 
who  later  on  was  assassinated  in  Moscow  where 

277 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

he  was  the  Ambassador  to  the  Bolshevik  govern- 
ment. An  imposing  suite  of  officers  of  the  Intelli- 
gence Department  accompanied  the  delegation, 
and  Captain  Rustenberg  was  included  among  the 
men  who  were  ordered  to  watch  the  proceedings 
of  the  conference.  As  fate  would  have  it,  it  was 
the  last  time  that  he  performed  any  kind  of  serv- 
ice for  the  government  in  whose  employ  he  had 
been  for  years  and  which  he  had  at  last  grown  to 
despise  and  scorn  as  it  deserved  to  be. 


278 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE   GREAT   BETRAYAL 

The  German  delegation  reached  Brest-Litovsk 
a  few  days  before  the  Russians.  Passport  diffi- 
culties were  the  reason  given  for  the  delay  of 
Trotzky's  messengers.  The  old  town  for  so 
many  years  considered  one  of  the  most  valued 
possessions  of  the  Russian  crown  was  now  the 
property  of  an  enemy  to  whom  it  owed  its  destruc- 
tion. It  was  now  a  part  of  Germany.  Safe  con- 
ducts from  the  German  government  were  indis- 
pensable for  a  Russian  to  enter.  Unfortunately 
Lenine  and  his  associates  were  considered  Rus- 
sians, though  they  themselves  proclaimed  that  they 
were  simply  Internationalists  who  recognized  no 
fatherland  but  who  were  content  with  the  title 
of  citizens  of  the  world  —  a  world  they  certainly 
had  not  helped  to  make  better  than  it  had  been 
before  they  appeared  to  reform  it. 

The  German  government  afterwards  declared 
that  these  passport  difficulties  did  not  exist  but 

279 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

served  merely  as  a  pretext  for  the  Bolsheviki  to 
delay  the  negotiations.  At  all  events  a  peremp- 
tory message  was  sent  to  Lenine  to  hasten  the 
departure  of  the  delegates  or  dire  consequences 
would  follow.  Lenine  did  not  mind  the  injunc- 
tion in  the  least,  and  replied  to  the  effect  that  he 
wanted  to  have  certain  preliminary  matters  settled 
before  so  grave  a  step,  at  least  he  declared  that 
he  realized  it  was  grave. 

In  order  not  to  delay  matters  an  agent  was 
immediately  ordered  to  go  to  Petrograd  and  in- 
terview the  famous  anarchist.  Lenine  refused  to 
receive  him  under  the  pretext  that  he  was  ill,  and 
Trotzky  alone  saw  him.  The  latter  was  con- 
sidered more  adaptable  than  his  colleague,  and 
he  knew  how  to  give  his  exact  meaning  in  a  very 
few  words.  His  conversation  with  the  German 
envoy  was  not  lengthy.  He  merely  exposed  the 
difficulties  in  which  he  found  himself  in  regard 
to  his  supporters  who  had  not  yet  rallied  to  the 
opinion  that  it  was  indispensable  that  peace  be 
restored  to  Russia.  He  hinted  that  their  resist- 
ance could  be  overcome  by  the  usual  means  of  a 
generous  reward  for  their  conversion.  The  re- 
sult of  this  interview  was  that  another  sum  of 
twenty  million  roubles  was  transferred  to  a  bank 
in  Moscow,  as  Petrograd  was  considered  a  diffi- 

280 


THE  GREAT  BETRAYAL 

cult  place  to  maintain  secrecy  in  regard  to  so 
large  a  transaction. 

This  was  certainly  an  unexpected  transaction 
for  the  German  Staff  which  was  at  last  beginning 
to  have  serious  misgivings  about  Trotzky's  part 
and  to  realize  that  they  ought  to  get  something  in 
return  for  the  lavish  expenditure  of  money  in 
which  they  were  constantly  indulging.  Herr 
Steinwachs  wired  to  Trotzky  that  this  twenty 
millions,  which  he  would  personally  never  have 
agreed  to  hand  over,  would  be  the  last  he  would 
ever  receive.  Therefore  he  had  better  make  up 
his  mind  to  fulfill  his  part  of  the  bargain  and  not 
compel  his  friends  to  have  recourse  to  measures 
of  coercion  which  they  were  firmly  determined 
to  apply  in  the  case  of  further  delays  in  beginning 
the  peace  conference. 

This  time  Trotzky  realized  that  matters  were 
getting  serious  and  the  day  after  he  had  received 
Herr  Steinwachs's  message,  Kameneff  and  his 
staff  started  for  Brest-Litovsk.  Joffe  had  already 
arrived  there  and  was  waiting  for  them  with  a 
mixture  of  impatience  and  wonder.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  he  did  not  feel  quite  sure  of  bringing  his 
friends  to  see  things  from  his  own  point  of  view. 

The  Bolsheviki,  however,  are  amenable  by 
temperament.     Besides,  I  do  not  feel  certain  that 

281 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

the  men  to  whom  had  been  entrusted  the  mission 
of  conferring  with  Germany  upon  the  most  im- 
portant act  in  modern  Russian  history  realized  in 
the  least  its  importance.  The  Bolshevik  is  not  a 
student  of  history;  in  fact,  he  considers  it  abso- 
lutely devoid  of  importance.  He  is  sometimes  an 
idealist,  and  more  frequently  a  practical  expropria- 
tor. In  the  whole  tragedy  he  only  saw  chances  for 
a  general  expropriation  of  the  possessions  of  the 
cultured  classes  for  whom  he  had  an  unreasonable 
and  unreasoned  hatred.  Neither  Kameneff  nor 
Joffe  nor  their  colleagues  gave  a  single  thought  to 
idealism,  though  Lenine  might,  during  some  of  his 
spare  moments,  have  dreamt  of  an  ideal  condition 
of  things,  where  equality  would  be  general  and 
where  fortunes  should  only  exist  as  a  property  of 
the  state  which  alone  should  distribute  them 
among  the  citizens.  But  these  dreams  were 
never  of  long  duration,  for  the  remembrance  of 
his  bank  books  in  different  German  towns  where 
he  and  Trotzky  had  carefully  transferred  their 
ill-gotten  gains  always  interfered.  At  last  he 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  as  well  com- 
munism did  not  exist  everywhere,  though  he  con- 
sidered it  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  Russia, 
and  even  talked  of  the  beautiful  thing  it  would 
be  if  its  doctrines  spread  to  other  lands. 

282 


THE  GREAT  BETRAYAL 

The  first  day  the  delegations  met  in  the  town 
hall  of  Brest-Litovsk  passed  off  without  incident. 
The  Russians  and  Germans  studied  each  other  and 
seemed  to  measure  their  ground.  But  on  the 
second  meeting  of  the  conference  General  von 
Hoffman  took  the  lead  and  without  even  taking 
the  trouble  to  listen  to  anything  the  Russians 
might  say,  and  some  among  them  did  try  to  say 
something,  he  drew  on  a  map  a  line  which  in  his 
opinion  should  be  the  new  frontier.  He  declared 
that  this  was  the  only  frontier  that  he  and  his 
chiefs  would  consider  acceptable. 

Even  some  of  the  German  officials  gasped  when 
they  looked  at  that  line.  Germany  was  annexing 
Poland,  Lithuania,  Esthonia,  Livonia,  Courland, 
taking  all  the  fortresses  on  which  Russia  had  relied 
for  her  defence  in  former  times,  Riga,  the  Crimea, 
Odessa,  as  well  as  part  of  the  Caucasus;  while 
Batoum,  Novorossisk  and  all  the  other  important 
Black  Sea  ports  were  to  be  handed  over  to  Tur- 
key. Vladivostok  was  to  have  a  German  gar- 
rison, and  Germany  was  to  be  granted  a  full  con- 
trol of  the  Siberian  railway.  There  would  be 
nothing  left  to  Russia  In  case  she  agreed  to  these 
monstrous  conditions,  except  her  eyes  to  weep  for 
the  disaster  which  had  befallen  her. 

After  General  von  Hoffman,  Baron  von  Mir- 
283 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

bach  spoke.  He  claimed  other  things :  an  indem- 
nity, the  amount  of  which  he  did  not  mention  at 
once;  the  immediate  liberation  of  the  German 
prisoners  of  war  without  any  promise  of  reciproc- 
ity on  the  part  of  the  Germans;  commercial 
treaties  which  would  ruin  Russia  for  years  to 
come;  a  promise  to  trade  only  with  Germany  in 
the  future,  and,  finally,  the  recognition  of  the 
independence  of  the  Ukrainian  Republic  which  the 
German  Foreign  Office  considered  indispensable 
for  its  security  in  the  future. 

Even  M.  Joffe  felt  that  this  was  asking  a  good 
deal,  and  he  begged  for  an  adjournment  of  the 
meeting  to  allow  him  to  communicate  with  his 
government  at  home.  General  von  Hoffman  re- 
fused, and  brutally  replied  that  it  was  this  or  noth- 
ing, and  he  would  break  off  negotiations  unless 
his  propositions  were  accepted.  Then  Prince 
Leopold  of  Bavaria  interfered,  and  took  it  upon 
himself  to  grant  Joffe's  request.  At  the  last 
moment  the  blood  of  the  ancient  Wittelsbachs 
asserted  itself,  and  he  feared  that  history  might 
judge  too  severely  the  scandalous  proceedings  to 
which  he  found  himself  a  party. 

Trotzky  and  Lenine  were  advised  of  what  had 
taken  place,  and  they  instantly  saw  the  advantage 
which  might  accrue  to  them  from  this  incident. 

284 


THE  GREAT  BETRAYAL 

The  fact  that  their  delegates  had  refused  to  com- 
ply with  the  German  demands  might  save  their 
reputation  with  their  Allies  by  proving  that  they 
were  not  so  ready  as  they  had  been  reported  to 
be  to^  accept  the  final  humiliation  and  destruction 
of  their  country.  They  immediately  sent  tele- 
grams to  all  their  friends  and  representatives 
abroad  declaring  that  they  were  going  to  break 
negotiations  with  the  German  High  Command  and 
resume  fighting.  They  were  perfectly  well  aware 
that  this  was  easier  said  than  done,  but  they  wanted 
to  be  able  to  say  to  the  world  that,  when  they 
yielded,  it  had  been  to  force  and  not  because  they 
had  wanted  to  do  so. 

Of  course  the  German  military  chiefs  saw 
through  the  game,  but  they  could  not  change  any- 
thing in  the  situation  which  had  developed  out 
of  their  conferences  with  the  Bolsheviki.  For  a 
brief  moment  Trotzky  held  the  trumps  in  the 
game,  and  he  might  have  held  them  longer  if  he 
had  not  made  the  mistake  of  going  to  Brest- 
Litovsk  for  a  few  hours.  He  went  in  response 
to  an  urgent  summons  from  General  von  Hoff- 
man who  thought  that  if  he  held  the  anarchist 
in  his  power,  he  might  accomplish  more  with  him 
than  the  latter  had  ever  imagined. 

No  one  ever  understood  how  Trotzky  was  in- 
285 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

duced  to  make  this  journey  after  the  repugnance 
with  which  he  had  viewed  it  before.  The  truth 
of  the  matter  was  that  the  anarchist  feared  for 
his  safety  in  Petrograd,  and  wanted  to  make  cer- 
tain arrangements  with  Germany  which  would 
enable  him  to  fly  to  their  lines  for  protection  in 
case  of  serious  danger. 

Trotzky  only  remained  in  Brest-Litovsk  a  few 
hours,  but  he  had  an  opportunity  to  convince  him- 
self that  unless  he  showed  absolute  submission  to 
the  masters  he  had  selected  of  his  own  free  will, 
he  might  spend  an  unpleasant  quarter  of  an  hour 
and  never  be  allowed  to  return  whence  he  had 
come.  The  treaty  of  Brest-Litovsk,  which  be- 
came a  fact  a  few  days  later,  was  virtually  con- 
cluded during  the  twenty-four  hours  which 
Trotzky  spent  there  as  the  guest  of  the  German 
government. 

The  proclamation  of  the  independence  of  the 
Ukrainian  Republic  was  a  terrible  blow  to 
Trotzky,  for  he  had  hoped  to  find  there  partisans 
capable  of  taking  the  place  of  those  who  were 
already  beginning  to  fail  him  in  Petrograd  and 
Moscow.  But  he  had  reckoned  without  his  host, 
for  though  the  German  government  had  no  ob- 
jection to  the  Bolsheviki  terrorizing  Petrograd 
and  Moscow,  it  had  no  intention  of  allowing  them 

286 


THE  GREAT  BETRAYAL 

to  make  ducks  ar^d  drakes  out  of  the  Ukraine. 
It  was  the  granary  from  which  the  German 
Staff  intended  to  draw  the  resources  it  could 
not  get  elsewhere,  and  the  Staff  had  contrib- 
uted far  more  than  was  ever  known  to  the 
election  of  the  new  Hetman,  General  Skoropad- 
sky,  who  out  of  personal  ambition  had  become 
the  tool  and  plaything  of  the  German  Foreign 
Office.  Trotzky  saw  that  the  game  was  up,  so 
far  as  he  was  concerned,  in  regard  to  the  peace 
about  which  he  had  talked  so  much  and 
which  he  now  found  himself  obliged  to  accept 
with  all  its  disgusting  and  disgraceful  details. 
When  he  left  Brest-Litovsk,  it  was  with  the  under- 
standing that  at  the  moment  the  German  High 
Command  should  judge  it  opportune,  M.  Joffe 
and  his  colleagues  would  put  their  names  to  a 
document  which  will  always  remain  as  one  of  the 
most  shameful  in  history. 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  when  it  was  definitely 
signed,  Captain  Rustenberg  stood  in  the  office  of 
General  von  Hoffman  meditating  on  the  abomin- 
able circumstances  which  had  accompanied  this 
immense  treachery.  Next  to  him  was  Herr  Stein- 
wachs  who  had  arrived  at  Brest-Litovsk  a  few 
hours  before  to  enjoy  the  triumph  to  which  he 
had  contributed  so  much  by  his  clever  handling 

287 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

of  the  German  Secret  Service  and  Intelligence 
Department.  He  was  looking  at  the  landscape 
and  at  the  snow  covered  ground  and  thinking, 
thinking.  Suddenly  he  turned  to  Captain  Rusten- 
berg  with  the  words : 

"  Well,  it  has  been  an  expensive  affair,  but  what 
does  it  matter  after  all?  We  have  had  the  proof 
that  our  great  Bismarck  was  right  when  he  said 
that  every  man  has  his  price." 

Captain  Rustenberg  did  not  share  this  opinion, 
and  still  thinks  that  there  are  people  in  this  world 
who  will  not  consent  to  be  corrupted,  though 
they  may  not  be  found  among  the  ranks  of  the 
Bolsheviki.  But  this  story  of  dirty,  sordid  in- 
trigue had  disgusted  him  profoundly.  He  had 
thought  himself  a  good  German  patriot  and  had 
been  working  for  his  country  all  the  time,  hoping 
that  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  her  become 
greater  than  she  had  been  before.  At  last  he 
had  discovered,  though  he  had  tried  hard  to  shut 
his  eyes  to  the  fact,  that  her  whole  policy  had 
been  founded  on  intrigue,  corruption  and  dishonor. 
The  truth  of  the  matter  was  that  military  bur- 
dens had  grown  far  too  heavy  for  German  shoul- 
ders, and  the  country  had  to  be  given  something 
in  return  for  its  sacrifices.  It  is  impossible  for 
militarism  alone  to  rule  the  world  or  a  nation  with- 

288 


THE  GREAT  BETRAYAL 

out  something  higher  behind  it  to  sustain,  it. 
Among  the  ruling  class  in  Germany  there  was 
nothing  more  than  a  greed  for  power,  and  this 
sad,  sad  circumstance  was  to  be  the  primary  cause 
of  its  fall.  The  war  had  become  a  necessity  in 
the  opinion  of  the  Hohenzollern  dynasty  and  in 
that  of  its  advisers,  unless  they  consented  to  give 
up  a  portion  of  their  medieval  privileges  and 
prerogatives.  They  could  not  adapt  themselves 
to  their  times,  and  they  imagined  that  the  times 
could  be  adapted  to  them.  This  was  the  initial 
error  which  led  to  the  catastrophe  of  the  World 
War,  an  error  for  which  Germany  will  pay  more 
heavily  than  even  poor  Russia  paid  for  the  crime 
of  those  who  ruled  her.  The  story  of  the  Brest- 
Litovsk  treaty  is  a  story  of  corruption,  just  as  the 
story  of  the  starting  of  the  war  is  one  of  deceit 
and  falsehood.  But  as  I  have  already  said,  it 
is  just  as  shameful  to  corrupt  as  it  is  to  be  cor- 
rupted. Germany  never  realized  this,  and  therein 
lies  her  misfortune.  Having  no  conscience  of  her 
own,  she  could  not  rise  to  the  level  of  those  who 
possessed  one.  This  explains  the  whole  tragedy, 
and  when  Captain  Rustenberg  realized  it  at  last, 
he  thought  it  was  high  time  to  retire  from  the 
scene,  If  only  to  prove  that  there  was  one  German 
In  the  world  who  did  not  approve  of  the  invasion 

289 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

of  Belgium  and  the  shameful  means  by  which  the 
consent  of  Lenine  and  Trotzky  was  obtained  to 
the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  of  Brest-Litovsk. 

The  curtain  has  fallen  on  the  second  act  of  the 
greatest  drama  the  world  has  ever  seen.  The 
first  one  came  to  the  end  with  the  treaty  of  Brest- 
Litovsk,  which  thanks  to  the  Allies  has  now  fallen 
into  the  same  abyss  in  which  the  once  mighty  and 
all-powerful  German  Empire  has  foundered.  I 
wish  I  could  be  as  certain  that  a  third  act  is  not 
to  be  played  before  the  end  of  the  tragedy.  Un- 
fortunately, knowing  as  I  do  the  sordid  intrigues 
by  which  the  former  German  government  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  hold  of  unfortunate  and  bleed- 
ing Russia  and  tried  to  transform  it  into  a  de- 
pendency, I  cannot  look  towards  the  immediate 
future  without  appr-ehension.  Especially  when  I 
consider  that  Russian  revolutionaries  and  Ger- 
man rebels  are  the  same  people  and  belong  to 
the  same  gang.  It  Is  fervently  to  be  hoped  that 
for  the  sake  of  the  future  prosperity  of  the  world 
public  opinion  will  not  show  Itself  sympathetic  to 
the  new  rulers  of  what  was  once  the  German 
Empire.  Bolshevism,  which  at  first  was  engi- 
neered and  given  life  and  substance  by  the  money 
and  the  cooperation  of  the  Prussian  Intelligence 

290 


THE  GREAT  BETRAYAL 

Department,  has  invaded  Germany,  and  in  its  turn 
has  become  so  pro-German  that  it  is  now  imbued 
with  the  Imperialistic  and  Junker  spirit  which  a 
great  humiliation  has  not  killed  in  Prussia.  Ger- 
many has  perhaps  become  a  new  Germany  to-day, 
but  that  does  not  mean  that  she  has  become  a 
different  one.  The  slow  patience  and  persistence 
which  have  always  been  distinguishing  character- 
istics of  this  peculiar  people  and  allowed  it  to 
prepare  itself  silently  but  efficaciously  for  the  day 
when  it  might  get  revenge  for  the  defeat  which 
Napoleon  inflicted  on  it  at  Jena,  this  patience  and 
persistence  have  not  been  conquered  or  even  sub- 
dued. 

If  we  could  look  into  the  hearts  of  the  Ger- 
mans to-day,  we  should  find  that  they  are  already 
thinking  of  the  time  when  it  will  become  possible 
to  start,  perhaps  in  a  different  manner  from  the 
one  they  have  just  used,  that  conquest  of  the 
world,  which  they  have  been  expecting  for  so 
many  long  years.  The  difference  will  consist  in 
the  means  by  which  this  conquest  is  to  be  effected. 
If  Bolshevism  is  not  interfered  with,  it  will  be- 
come the  new  army  and  the  new  world  with  which 
our  old  culture  will  once  more  be  attacked.  It 
is  useless  to  nurse  illusions  on  this  point.  German 
socialism    is    absolutely    different    from    French, 

291 


THE  FIREBRAND  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

English  or  American  socialism,  and  it  will  be  the 
weapon  of  the  next  war  Germany  declares  on 
civilization.  Already  the  Russian  Bolsheviki  are 
talking  of  the  day  when,  with  the  complicity  of 
German  anarchism,  they  will  rule  the  world. 
And  German  anarchism  stands  ready  to  take  the 
hand  of  their  Slav  brothers  who  became  imbued 
with  its  pernicious  doctrines  and  were  lucky 
enough  to  put  them  into  execution,  before  it  had 
the  courage  and  the  opportunity  to  air  them  it- 
self. 

Therefore  we  must  not  allow  ourselves  to  think 
that  the  war  which  Germany  fought  against  the 
civilized  world  is  at  an  end.  Its  military  attempt 
to  conquer  has  failed  ignominiously,  but  the  social 
side  which  may  prove  difficult  to  subdue  has  not 
begun.  False  doctrines  are  far  more  dangerous 
than  big  guns,  and  though  we  may  reduce  the 
former  realm  of  William  II  to  utter  impotence 
materially,  this  will  not  mean  that  it  may  not  do 
us  an  infinity  of  harm  in  the  immediate  future. 
This  war  has  created  so  many  problems  that  the 
human  mind  will  require  time  to  appreciate  their 
magnitude.  Humanity  will  require,  or  will  think 
that  it  requires,  a  period  of  rest  before  attacking 
them.  It  is  against  this  natural  feeling  of  en- 
joying the  present  for  a  brief  while  without  think- 

292 


THE  GREAT  BETRAYAL 

ing  of  the  future  that  I  would  warn  my  reader. 
Germany  will  not  rest;  Lenine  and  Trotzky  and 
the  other  exponents  of  their  system  of  government 
will  not  rest;  the  Bolsheviki  in  Germany  and  in 
Russia  will  not  rest,  but  will  continue  their  silent 
and  underhand  work.  What  the  German  army 
has  lost,  German  socialism  will  try  to  win  back. 
This  must  be  prevented,  if  we  are  not  to  lose  all 
the  advantages  which  we  have  won  thanks  to  many 
cruel  sacrifices,  to  the  shedding  of  so  much  blood, 
to  the  loss  of  so  many  young  lives,  to  the  despair 
of  so  many  broken  hearts.  We  must  never  forget 
that  we  have  fought  our  battle  in  order  to  make 
the  world  safe  for  democracy  and  that  the  new 
great  enemy  of  democracy  is  Bolshevism.  Let 
us  never  let  this  fact  go  from  our  minds,  and  then 
only  will  the  generations  to  come  bless  us  for  the 
peace  which  they  enjoy  and  which  we  shall  have 
procured  for  them  thanks  to  our  watchfulness  and 
our  spirit  of  devotion  to  a  great  cause. 


THE  END 


293 


16718 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILfTY 


A    001  421  291    4 


/" 


